The Hitachiin Twins Must Die
by Nimash
Summary: In middle school, the Hitachiin Twins had broken many girls hearts. But one in particular has never forgotten them, and when she comes back to Ouran, she's set on revenge. Will she serve out some justice, or will her plan get out of hand?
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1: How It All Started

I watched with teary eyes as they tore up my letter to shreds. "We could never like someone as boyish as you!" they sneered, looking at me with disgust with their identical faces. The insults didn't stop there, though. One of the twins added, "And what's with your hair? It's so short and messy!"

I looked down in shame, my short, messy hair covering the trail of tears on my cheeks. It seemed like they couldn't leave it at that. I didn't bother to look up from humiliation when they jeered, "Plus, you're so short! It's amazing you aren't mistaken for an elementary student! You're eyes are so dull, too. It's like looking into a dirty lake! And don't get us started on those freckles and blemishes!"

I cried silently. Once they were done, my sadness turned to anger. I looked up at them, my eyes puffy. The first thing I did was slap them, which caught them off guard. "You Bakas!" I yelled at them, my voice still high from my sadness, "I can't believe I ever even thought I liked you! You're no different from what everyone knows you are! Two, annoying, spoiled brats who won't let anyone even venture into your world! I'm glad I'm moving away, then I won't ever have to see your smug faces again!" I didn't regret the harsh words, and I ran to my home before I could see their shocked, identical faces.

I slammed the door to my room shut, and flopped down on my bed. My mom was modeling at a fashion show, and my dad was working late at his hotel. I sighed as I stood up. I wasn't as sad anymore, and I walked over to my walk-in closet. There was a full-length mirror on the door, and I saw myself in a whole new way. Short, tomboy, stupid, dull eyes, ruined skin, flat as a sheet of paper, greasy hair, and pathetic. It was like all the things I never noticed were suddenly large billboards.

"What happened, Seiko?" I looked over to my open door, with my older sister standing in the doorway, worried. She walked over to me and grabbed me in a hug when she saw my tear-stained cheeks and red eyes. I couldn't help but look over into the mirror and analyze her. Misa had inherited Mother's drop dead gorgeous looks, while I was left with a few non-reassuring statements, including, "You'll hit a growth spurt. You're going through a period of change."

My older sister was tall and curvy. Her brown hair was wavy and went to her mid-back. Misa had a face to die for, and skin so perfect and soft, it was like an angel's. Her clear blue eyes shone radiantly, and her perfectly shaped lips hid pearly white teeth that formed a smile fit for a magazine cover. I looked like a drowned rat in comparison.

Misa bent down so she was at eye level. "Tell me exactly what happened, Seiko," she told me, holding my shoulders. Misa was the only one close to me, even though I was in 7th grade and she was a freshman. I poured out everything about the stupid Hitachiin Twins, my sadness long gone. I may not be a beauty, but I was tough and strong. I just couldn't be strong AND pretty like Misa.

She nodded knowingly. Seeing as how I was over the sadness, she grinned at me. She asked as she got up and walked over to my desk, "What's our motto, again?"

I beamed as I recited, "Get hurt, get over it, and get revenge."

"Exactly," she told me, a glint in her eye, "Now, it's time to get revenge." She walked back over to me, a magazine she had given me in her hands. It was _Cosmo Girl_. Misa pointed to the cover as she explained, "And we have two years before you're a sophmore in high school and we come back to Japan to turn you into everything the Hitachiins want."

My smile never faded. "And then we yank it out from under them!" At any other time, the thought of me changing from a tomboy would've offended me, but after my analysis, it was a win-win. I would be turned into everything I now wanted to be, and I would exact my revenge on Hikarou and Karou.

Two years did not pass quickly enough. We had moved to New York, much to Misa and my pleasure, for it was known as the fashion capital of the world. I breezed through the school year and passed with flying colors. I spent afternoons with Misa to study magazines and take lessons from my practically perfect sister, and to work on our plan. But the one day I will never forget, is when I actually and noticably blossomed.

I had woken up, and as I yawned, walking towards the bathroom, I stopped dead in my tracks. There in the mirror, where a reflection of me was supposed to be, I saw a tall, fairly curvy girl, with golden, silky straight hair that went to her mid-back, perfect skin, and emerald eyes with flecks of brown in them. I yelled, "Misa!"

As Misa ran to my room, she stood, stunned. Then her expression turned from shock to happiness. She hugged me, and I was now only an inch or two shorter than her. She whispered, "See, Seiko, you are blossoming into a beautiful young lady. I'll take you on a shopping spree later, but I'll let you borrow some of my clothes for school."

Now I had a completely different wardrobe, I actually liked what I saw in the mirror, and it turned out that I was plenty girly. I even got my parents to agree to legally change my name to Takara. However, I was never distracted from my mission: to destroy Hikaru and Kaoru Hitachiin. I kept a close eye on them, using Internet searches to see what they were doing. They still attended Ouran, but now they were a part of a Host Club. Looks like I'm not the only one who's changed.

So now, as my sister and I got out of our limosuine, and stepped onto the campus, I guess that's how it all got started. "I'm back, Ouran," I whispered, feeling like a completely different girl than when I first came to Ouran Academy. This time, though, I wouldn't make the same mistake I had last time. This time, with Misa by my side, I was going to deliver some justice.

As if to confirm, Misa told me, "Those twins won't be able to take their eyes off of you." Misa was already getting a ton of looks from boys, and I had to admit I was getting a few, too. We were wearing the boy's unifrom, but with balck pleated skirts and flats that matched the jacket.

"Remember," Misa told me, walking side by side, "Play it cool and flirty. Be hard to get, but not too hard to get-"

"Okay, I get it," I reassured her, laughing. My voice was still a little low for my liking, and I thought my laugh was stupid, but not according to my family. I added, "Our plan won't work in one day. We need to be patient."

Misa stopped as we stood outside my classroom. She gave me a quick hug, telling me, "I just want you to remember to enjoy the year. And don't get into any trouble with the boys."

"Speak for yourself," I pulled away, a mischievous glint in my fairly large eyes, "You attract boys like a magnet!"

Misa laughed, showing off her perfect teeth. After we bid a final farewell, I turned around to face the door to the classroom. I had come after the Ouran Fair, and there was still buzzing in the air. I breathed deeply, and then opened the door to the noisy classroom.

As luck would have it, I was the last one to enter. All eyes were now on me, but two certain pairs of amber eyes in the crowd brought back memories that those two had probably long forgotten.

My teacher looked up at me, her smile kind. "You must be Takara Uzuki. Why don't you take a seat right here in front?" I followed her orders, nodding and smiling shyly. I ignored the looks I got, but remembered the girl who was sitting between the twins. The computer had told me she was Haruhi. She was wearing the same uniform as me, and was in the Host Club with the Hitachiins, serving boys.

Throughout the day, it was the same. Taking notes, ignoring the looks, and silently observing the Hitachiins and Haruhi. They were close, it seemed, and my mind began to wander. Did they like each other? No, the way Haruhi seemed annoyed and how the Hitachiins teased her in a way that didn't make her blush told me that they were nothing more than friends. But maybe they had had a crush on her in the past? Back when the members of the Host Club were the only ones who knew she was a girl. I could just barely notice the way Hikaru looked at her sometimes.

I sighed. Maybe revenge was useless at this point. After all, I wasn't the only one who changed. Maybe the twins had moved on, long forgotten those days when I was just one of thousands of girls who revealed her love to them.

But something inside me wasn't finished with them, not yet. It may have been a good year since they last broke a girl's heart, but what about all the other things they had done? Besides, you can't change the past, so no matter what they are now, I need to take revenge on what they did back then.

The entire day I noticed little things about them that seemed to make them different. For instance, Hikaru was better at straightforward answers, thus making him better at Math, Science, etc. It almost reminded me of Misa, actually. She was so blunt, and so true at one time. But I mentally slapped myself. How could I compare Misa to the people at the top of our hate list? Karou, on the other hand, was more creative, thus making him better at Art, Foreign Language, etc. I guess that kind of made me like Karou. Now I really felt like slapping myself. Comparing yourself to the enemy isn't exactly how to get revenge.

I noticed other things, as well. Hikaru was louder and more obnoxious. Kaoru was quieter and more in thought, but sly. I kept noticing the obvious looks I was getting from them. At one point, I almost felt like turning around and screaming, "Am I the only interesting thing in this room to look at?!" but I figured I'd rather not look like a freak.

At lunch, I actually had quite a few boys come up to sit by me, and I chatted with a few of the more intelligent girls. I immediately spotted the Hitachiin Twins walking toward me, identical faces staring straight at me, looking slightly smug. I had to resist the urge to slap them. As they neared, Hikaru began, "So you're-"

"Takara Uzuki?" Kaoru finished. They both looked at me, ignoring the fan girls sitting around going green with envy.

I smiled. "Yes, I am. May I be so kind as to ask who you are?"

"The Hitachiin Twins," they replied in unison, not showing much of an interest.

I looked to both of them. I half-smiled. "Can you at least tell me you're individual names?" I could practically feel everyone around me thinking, _She has no idea who these guys are_, and sweat drop.

"Hikaru."

"Kaoru." They seemed to be slightly annoyed at the fact that I had no idea who they were. Just as I suspected, they didn't even remember me. Of course, I had changed my name as well.

I smiled at them both. "Pleasure to meet you both," I chimed.

They seemed to cut the small talk. "We would like you to stop by the third music room after school," they told me, faking a perfect smile that made all the girls around melt.

"Very well then," I told them. I turned back towards my lunch. "I'll see if I can stop by quickly."

Their shock and everyone else's radiated off of me. They were probably surprised at me not falling all over the two, soaking up their attention. _Been there, done that,_ I thought. The twins simply turned towards their table, still a little stunned from my calm reply.

After my last class, I met up with Misa outside of her class. "Well?" she asked expectantly, looking into my eyes. "What happened?"

I decided to tease her for a bit. I sighed, "They never even batted an eye."

"WHAT?!"

"Shh!" I hissed at her, pulling her aside, and trying to ignore the stares we got. "I was just messing with you. They told me to meet them in the third music room."

Misa looked relieved. She didn't seem to notice the looks she got. That's one of the things I envied Misa for. She could always be herself and not care who's watching her. She told me, "You know, a blond boy named Tamaki in my class told me the same thing. Head over to the music room, and I'll be right behind you!"

She pushed me out into the sea of students. "Wait, where are you going?" I yelled above the chatter, but it was already too late. Misa was out of sight, and I was in a crowded hall, and I had no idea where I was going. I let myself be carried around until the crowd eventually pushed me out unintentionally near a large door. I stumbled for a bit, but looked up at the sign. "Well what do you know?" I asked myself. "This is it."

I opened up the door, but found an empty room. I sweat dropped. _This is supposed to be the infamous Host Club?_ I thought. I looked around. I called out, "Hello?"

Silence.

I sighed. It looked like no one was here yet. I looked around, trying to find something to do while I waited. Everywhere I looked, though, there was just another couch, chair, or table. It was supposed to be a music room, but there weren't even any instruments. That's when my eyes caught a viola.

I bit my lip. The viola, my one true weakness. I looked around one more time, before rushing over to the abandoned instrument sitting on a lonely windowsill. I picked it up gingerly, examining it. I checked one final time before I rested the delicate instrument on my shoulder, picked up the bow, and began to play.

My melodies weren't from other composers' pieces; they just sort of popped into my head. I'd only taken a few formal classes, but I was mainly self-taught. I had memorized and wrote down a few of my favorite pieces, and I played my absolute favorite. It was delicate and light, and reminded me of a lone, beautiful cherry blossom, whirling around in the wind, lost. It took a journey down a gentle creek, whisked away by a breeze, then landing softly in a meadow. I closed my eyes, letting myself be swept away in the notes.

As I drew out the last note, letting it echo in the empty room, I slowly let my eyes open, smiling slightly to myself. The smile instantly vanished as I watched five very shocked faces and two less emotional faces staring at me in the doorway. My first move was to bite my lip, and quickly set the instrument down. I blushed madly, the awkward silence never breaking.

"So, you're Takara Uzuki," a boy who looked to be about Misa's age in glasses broke the silence, sliding his frames up. He jotted something down on a clipboard. I was hoping he wasn't writing trespasser on it.

"Y-yes," I managed to stutter out, my head slightly bent down.

Luckily, Misa saved me. She made her way past the boys who were rooted to the spot, and looked at me. She whispered, "What have you done now?"

I quickly explained my situation to her, emphasizing how powerless I was to the temptation, but Misa just smiled. "Perfect," she whispered, giving me an O.K. sign with her fingers. "Now they know just how talented you really are."

I looked around her to take a peek at the boys. They had regained movement, and I saw that Tamaki was now walking towards us. "Ah, Miss Misa and Takara Uzuki. We are all so pleased that you could make it."

Misa smiled charmingly. "Yes, well we really should be going, seeing as how busy we are," she told him, helping me play hard to get.

It took about five seconds of walking towards the door for Tamaki to shout, "Wait! Please, I beg you fair maidens to stay. At least let us introduce you to the other princesses."

_Great_, I thought, _he's heavy on the fake compliments._ I just smiled politely as Misa accepted for the both of us. We both took a seat on a couch, and Misa pulled out a small sketchbook. She instantly took out a pencil and began to sketch. Misa was extremely talented with her art. She could do portraits and abstract, but she adored landscapes. I peeked over her shoulder to see that she was doing one of the school courtyards. I smiled as she became so absorbed in her drawing.

I took out a notebook and pen. My love was in writing. I suppose I could draw a few realistic still-lifes, but that was about the extent of my talent there. I really didn't think my poems and short stories weren't that great, either, but I loved being swept away to a far off place, meeting new people, and writing about adventures I wished I could have.

I started writing a new poem, something I hadn't done lately.

_Twas it fate that caught me?_

_Or mere coincidence?_

_Was it not the work of luck that I should be caught?_

_Swept away,_

_In another time,_

_Feeling the sweet emotions of isolation._

_Twas a cruel awakening by reality,_

_To be stolen of my moment._

_To be brought back to the world,_

_As a mere, flustered girl._

_Oh! What would I give to be back in my world!_

_To feel all that I had felt before!_

_Yet, here I am,_

_Standing all alone,_

_Turning scarlet by the second._

_Why was fate cruel?_

_Could I not stay in that world forever?_

_Could I not abandon this dull world and live in my own?_

_But what was merely a dream-_

"What are you writing?" I immediately stopped my creative flow and slammed the notebook shut. I'm sure my poem was coming true. I think I was at the part where I was "turning scarlet by the second".

I turned to them. Right before I was about to hastily tell them nothing, Misa shot me a quick look that practically told me, "Page 37, remember?" Right, don't be secretive, it makes it seem like you have something to hide. It seemed kind of stupid, though, with something as small as this. I turned back to the twins. I smiled. "I just like to jot down my thoughts sometimes."

They got identical mischievous looks on their faces. "You mean," they leaned down so they would be at my eye-level sitting down, "Like a DIARY?"

Oh god, I knew that look. It was the kind of look that no matter what you say, they were going to twist your words around. There was no use escaping it. So, I decided to give them a shock. "I guess it is," I told them, standing up so that now I was just a centimeter shorter than them. I looked on nonchalantly. "Any particular reason why you're asking?"

Their smirks lessened for a quick second as they realized I wasn't resisting. Then they started losing interest and shrugged. "No." Back to single syllables.

I could tell they weren't going to bat another eye, so I set the notebook down on the couch. "Look after it, won't you Misa?" She had stopped sketching. She nodded, a small smile on her face as she turned back to watch Kyoya.

Just as I was about to walk over to the window, someone grabbed me lightly by the wrist, pulling me over to a buffet set up with tea sets. I didn't even have to look up when I heard an enthusiastic voice call out to the crowd, "I would like to dedicate a toast! To Takara and Misa! May your year at Ouran be one filled with friendships and joy!"

The crowd raised their teacups, mimicking, "Takara and Misa!" I just stood there, clueless.

Tamaki lifted my chin, forcing me to look in his eyes, "But I'm sure you'll have no problem attracting many male friends. I just hope that somewhere in your large heart, that you'll always remember me." I saw a few fan girls swoon, and realized I was part of his act.

I stepped back. "Oh, I'm sure to remember you, Tamaki," I assured him, establishing quite a bit of space between us, "You're a kind all your own."

Instead of having to listen to him misinterpreting my sarcastic comment, I walked back over to the couch. Just as I had suspected, Hikaru and Kaoru were reading every single page. I stood, waiting. They seemed absorbed until I coughed, signaling that they had been caught.

Hikaru whined, "This isn't anything like a diary!"

"Oh?" I asked, raising my eyebrows. I walked over to where they were sitting, reading. "Then what is it?"

Kaoru looked up at me. "It's like a collection of short stories and poems," he told me, a sudden smirk appearing on his and his brother's face. He snickered, "And there are a lot of **romantic** ones."

I sat down, fingering my skirt. "I suppose there are," I told them, trying to make my tone go a little flirty. I looked up at them with big eyes, asking, "Which one do you like the best?"

Hikaru and Kaoru were caught off guard, and looked to each other. Hikaru told me, "I guess the one about the cat and mouse."

I giggled, "That's my favorite, too." I recalled the tale, about an orange tabby whose owner had locked him in the attic until he could catch a mouse. He finally found a mouse hole, but realized that he couldn't catch any of the mice. One of the mice made a deal with him. He told him he would act dead in his mouth, and he would show him to the owner, and he could finally leave them alone. As the orange tabby proudly showed of his fake kill, the owner decided he would stay in the attic to kill off the rest of the mice. However, the tabby realized he had become too good friends with the mice to kill them, so he spent the rest of his life happily in the attic, with his newfound friends, realizing it was better to be happy then pretend he was something he wasn't.

I signaled for them to give back my notebook. They just stuck their tongues out, leaving me to run after them, while they were still skimming my book. Finally, I sat down on a windowsill, defeated. As they sauntered towards me, I asked, "What do I have to do to get my notebook back?"

Hikaru and Kaoru pretended to be in thought. Finally they declared, "You have to meet us tomorrow, Saturday, at the park, wearing what we give you!"

It sounded easy enough. But I thought exactly what they might have me wear. Still, that notebook had all of my best stories in it… "Fine," I sighed accepting the large brown box they gave me. It seemed like they had already prepared it for someone else, perhaps Haruhi?

As I left with Misa after the whole incident, Kaoru waved. He grinned, "We'll be excited to see how you look Saturday."

Misa was pleased. I was anxious. But I guess that's how our plan really got started, because from that Saturday through the rest of the year, things got pretty crazy.

* * *

**Disclaimer: I don't own OHSHC.**

**Yay! New fanfic, with all new OCs! Please review, review, review! I'm hoping to get 2 reviews before I post the next chapter... which I should probably start writing... when I have time... reality sucks.  
**


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

I grimaced as I opened up the box the twins had given me. Misa was with me, and she beamed as if she had just won Miss Japan. "Oh, Takara, you'll look so adorable in that!"

I pulled out the ensemble, and walked over to the mirror. I bit my lip, turning. I asked Misa, "Are you sure this won't make me look… stupid?"

Misa suddenly got serious as she walked up beside me. She placed her hand reassuringly on my shoulder. "Takara," she told me, her voice serious, "Stop doubting yourself." Then she broke her tense mood and shoved me playfully towards the bathroom. "Now change and let me see!"

* * *

I waited patiently at the park. It was nice, exclusive, of course, and secluded. I was surprised someone like the devils would choose this place to meet me. I crossed my legs, as I leaned back into the very expensive bench I was sitting on. I fingered the skirt, nervous. The plan was going along fairly well, but something in the pit of my stomach told me I didn't look nice enough, I wasn't going to be flirty, or I would be rejected before I could reject them. I sighed. It was so easy for Misa to be so confident. She didn't have to plan anything, things just happened to her, the complete opposite of me. I _have_ to plan everything; otherwise nothing goes the way I want it to.

As I caught sight of Hikaru and Kaoru, I stood up, the sky blue, knee-length skirt falling down into place. I had on a white off the shoulder long-sleeve cashmere shirt on, and white, low high heels. I had put my hair into a ponytail and curled it, and Misa had done my makeup perfectly.

I had to keep myself from smirking as Hikaru and Kaoru caught their breath for a second. I guess they weren't expecting me to look as nice as I must have.

"You look,"

"Nice." Their Cheshire grins returned as they walked around me. "You know, it's not safe for a delicate girl like you to be left alone," Kaoru whispered into my ear.

Hikaru mimicked his twin. "Especially to be left alone with us."

I gritted my teeth. My hands turned into fists, and I had to hide them behind my back. _Resist the urge to punch them_, I thought to myself, _Remember, flirty. _I giggled, "Better to have you all to myself."

Hikaru and Kaoru smirked to each other; obviously glad I was playing along. I walked away a bit, and then turned back towards them. I held out my hand, asking, "My notebook, if you will?"

Hikaru pouted. "You're no fun. You have our full attention, and you don't even want to do something," he mumbled, readjusting his small backpack, which probably had my notebook in it.

Kaoru wagged his finger in front of my face. "Uh, uh, uuhh," he teased in a sing-song voice, "You have to stay with us for at least an hour."

_Really?_ I thought. Once again, my teeth grinded against each other. But I just smiled mischievously and told them, "Well, if I _have_ to."

"Come on! We have to show you the commoner's supermarket!" Hikaru told me, grabbing my wrist.

As Kaoru grabbed my other wrist, he explained, "It has the weirdest, most amazing stuff!" I let them drag me along until we got to a small food store.

I cocked my head to the side, observing it. This was my first time at a place like this, so I took in every detail. I especially made sure to take a few mental notes on the twins.

They led me up and down the aisles, pointing out different, wacky things that I had never seen before. They're favorite, though, was obviously the commoner's coffee. They couldn't stop babbling on about the stuff, and how amazing it was. When they finally found it, they grabbed an armful each, and I decided to grab one. "How does it taste?" I asked, uncertain. This could all be some elaborate prank they were pulling…

Hikaru explained like it was the most obvious thing as he continued to walk down the aisle, "Well, it's really bitter, but strangely addictive. And the beans are already ground, so you just add hot water!"

I nodded in silence, eyeing the can. I looked over to the twin on my left, Kaoru. Suddenly, I realized he hadn't even spoken a word once we entered the commoner's market. "Something wrong, Kaoru?" I asked, wondering why in the world a loudmouth Hitachiin would be silent.

"No, I'm Hikaru," he corrected, looking straight ahead. I rolled my eyes. He was obviously trying to pull something.

I shook my head, "No, you're obviously Kaoru."

Kaoru and Hikaru exchanged a glance, and then looked at me. "What?" I suddenly became extremely self-conscious. Had I done something wrong?

"Nothing," Kaoru batted away the thought, acting like nothing had happened.

After we had finally bought everything, I realized what time it was. "Well, time flies when you're having fun exploring a commoner's supermarket," I told them, holding my shopping bag.

They both pouted, probably sad that their toy was leaving. "Here's your notebook," Hikaru told me as he handed it back to me.

I nodded, "Thanks." I started walking back towards my house. "I'll see you at school!"

"WAIT! TAKARA!" they screamed in unison.

Just as I turned around to see where I was going, I tripped on a large tree root, landing on my ankle with a hard bang in an odd position. I grimaced in pain. I tried to stand up, but found that if I put any pressure on it at all, it felt like it was burning, and I would come crashing back to the ground, yelping.

Kaoru ran over to my side immediately, helping me up. Then, he surprised me, and swept me up bridal style into his arms. I felt a faint blush coming on, so I looked down. He looked over to Hikaru, "Call the Ootori hospital, I'll take Takara to the limo."

Hikaru nodded grimly, whipping out his cell phone in a flash. Kaoru carried me in silence, staring straight ahead. I found that I kept bumping along, and at one point, I almost fell out of his arms. I squealed a little in panic, and threw my arms around his neck. I felt a faint chuckle in his chest, but we both shared a blush.

"So, no heels next time?" he asked me, his face cracking into a smile.

I laughed. "Maybe some glasses, too." We walked on in silence, and I relaxed. It didn't feel like I needed to follow a magazine's advice, I just rested in his arms. Then I realized that I had put my head on his chest, and I immediately stopped that, blushing.

Kaoru looked down at me, chuckling softly. "You're so cute when you blush."

Normally, I would've felt the need to punch him, but somehow, my blush just deepened. Maybe it was the way the light hit his face just so, or the way he was laughing… I snapped out of my daydream when he told me, "Well, we better call your parents once we get you in the limo."

I looked over, and saw Hikaru standing by their stretch limo. I sighed. "They probably won't care."

Kaoru looked down at me, concerned. "Of course they will, once they find out."

I shook my head sadly. "My dad's in Hong Kong," I explained, "And my mom is modeling in France. The only one who's ever home is Misa. My parents will probably just think I'm turning into a wild child."

Kaoru stared ahead, sadness creeping into his eyes. He shook his head. "Just because they aren't always there," he told me, looking into my eyes, "Doesn't mean they don't care."

Hikaru waved impatiently at us. "Come on, they're expecting us!" he yelled. Both of the twins had to help me in, and I called Misa, then my mom, and last of all, dad.

The entire ride there, the twins made sure I wasn't hurting too badly. Then they both started texting like mad men. That couldn't be good. A team of staff helped me inside the hospital, and after a quick checkup from the doctor, I learned that I had sprained my ankle.

He put a splint on me, and I winced. It was big and ugly, but I guess if it would heal my leg, it was worth it. Hikaru and Kaoru had left after the doctor came, but they promised they would be outside. After all the bills and such were taken care of, I limped outside, greeted by a death hug from Misa.

"Ohmigod!" she yelled, squeezing the air out of me. "Are you okay, Takara? Speak to me! Is the splint helping? Are you feeling dizzy?"

I choked out, "Can't…. breathe…." After Misa immediately released me, I laughed, "Misa, calm down! I'm not falling into a coma."

"Sorry," she told me, looking down at my splint. "It just looks so serious."

I finally looked around her, and gasped. The entire Host Club was there, each holding a small gift. Tamaki was the first to go, surprisingly, he told me modestly, handing me a classical CD, "It's the Host Club's duty to make sure that all the young ladies are happy and well. We hope you get better soon."

I accepted the CD, thankful. Hunny and Mori came up to me next. Mori handed me a small balloon, and Hunny gave me a small platter of cakes. "Feel better Takara!" Hunny hugged me, beaming.

"Yeah," Mori nodded, smiling.

After Hunny let go, Kyoya handed me a large bouquet of roses. "So sorry that you had to see my family's hospital in a situation like this," he smiled charmingly, but I could tell he was secretly thinking, _And don't get any ideas about suing_. But I felt that there was a small sense of sincerity deep, deep, deep, deep, deep, deep, deep down in his heart...somewhere.

Haruhi smiled at me, handing me some homemade cookies. "Feel better," he told me, nodding. I smiled back. I handed a few of the stuff to Misa as the Hitachiin Twins stepped up.

"Sorry about that," Kaoru mumbled sheepishly. "We kind of felt like this is our fault in some way."

I shook my head. But they handed me my notebook and shopping bag, winking. "There's something else inside, too," they told me in unison. As I was about to open it, they dramatically waved their hands, telling me to open it at home. This got a few suspicious glances from the other hosts, but Misa seemed happy about it.

* * *

The drive home was fairly quiet with Misa, who occasionally asked about my ankle, the date, and when she found out about Kaoru carrying me, she squealed like a helpless fan girl.

As Misa helped me to my room, dispersing the Host Club's kind gifts, I opened up the shopping bag, gaping. Misa peered over my shoulder, and gasped. Inside was not only the commoner's coffee, which Misa looked at questionably for a second, but a beautiful silver heart locket. I opened it up, and inside were two identical faces on both sides. ALMOST identical. I smiled a bit to myself as I read the card attached.

_We're sorry, Takara. Please wear this locket we bought for you! We didn't bother engraving our names on each side, since we know you can tell us apart. We hope you feel better soon. Other than you getting hurt, we had a great time! _

_Sincerely,_

_Hikaru and Kaoru_

_P.S. Look at the back! :)  
_

I could tell from the signatures at the bottom that Kaoru had written the message. As I flipped the locket over, I gasped at the small engraving that read, "Welcome to our world."

Misa threw her arms up, thanking the lord. She jumped and danced around the room, chanting, "They want to go steady, they want to go steady!"

I smiled, but quickly shook my head. "They probably just feel guilty."

Misa stopped abruptly. She sighed, "Takara, our plan is going perfectly! And it's only been two days!"

I smiled. "Yeah, I guess you're right." After a quick goodnight, Misa left to get ready for bed. I walked over to the bathroom, changing with a bit of difficulty. I limped back to my bed, and couldn't help but pick up the locket. I carefully put it on, as if it were made of glass and one false move would have it all break.

"Yeah, I guess our plan is coming along," I whispered to myself as I turned off the lights and slid into bed. But I frowned. What if I DIDN'T want to follow the plan anymore, though? No, no, I mentally shook my head. The plan was working, and I would follow it accordingly. Simple as that.

Right?

* * *

**Disclaimer: I only own Takara and Misa.**

**What did you think? I mixed in some anger, doubt, and romance, and I hope it turned out nice for you guys as well as it did for me.  
**

**Thanks for all the great reviews, guys! They really help me get down to business. If you haven't reviewed, please do! More to come!  
**


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

I walked into school the next day, my head cleared and my intentions set solely on the plan. Last night was a fluke, nervousness, nothing real happened. Misa kept telling me the plan was perfect, and she even went through the entire thing at least three times before we left the house, so she had to be right.

As I took a seat in class, I felt two pairs of amber eyes staring at me from either side. I looked to both of them, smiling, "Good morning."

The twins both beamed. "We knew you'd love it!" Hikaru told me, pointing to my neck.

My first reaction was thinking, _What the heck?_ But then I remembered that I still hadn't taken their gift off. "Oh… uh, yeah, I really do," I replied unintelligently. I couldn't help it; I guess I cleared my mind a little _too_ much.

"Does your leg feel any better?" Kaoru asked, looking a little concerned.

I nodded. "Yeah. The splint's bulky, but I'm fine."

Hikaru spotted Haruhi walking in, and immediately bid me goodbye, greeting the brown-eyed boy. Kaoru hovered around me for a minute, before blurting out, "Do you need help with your books."

I thought about it. This would be an awesome time to help the plan develop, but to have two Hitachiins bugging me in between classes as well, that didn't sound too appealing. I shook my head no. "Thanks for the offer, though," I gave him a small smile, but I guess he had something else he wanted to say.

"What are you going to tell the doctor?"

"Eh?"

Kaoru rolled his eyes. "Physical exams," he clarified, acting like I was stupid. In that instance, I guess I was. I had enrolled in Ouran a little late, so I had come just before physical exams.

"Oh," I told him, realizing what he meant, "I don't know. I have klutz phobia?"

"Wouldn't that be a fear of klutzes?" We shared a quick laugh, and he waved goodbye as he walked back to sit with Haruhi and Hikaru.

In the middle of the day, our class lined up, and poured out into the halls, heading over to our section for physical exams. I limped along, trying not to get caught in the crowd with my splint.

As I waited patiently at the door, an overly cheery (and possibly brainwashed) nurse greeted me with a smile and told me in her peppy voice, "You must be Takara Uzuki. You'll be going to the special needs doctor in the 7th music room, provided by Ootori Medical Centers. If you like, I can lead you there."

I gave her a charming smile. "No, it's okay, I know where it is," I told her as I hobbled out the door. A special needs doctor? Honestly, a splint isn't something to get a whole private room for. Oh well, I guess these people must take it seriously.

I read the sign hanging above the door. As it creaked open, I saw a female doctor sitting by a desk, and signs pointing over to changing rooms. The doctor smiled at me as she told me, "Hello, Ms. Uzuki. If you would be so kind as to start undressing in the space provided, I'll come and take your measurements in a few minutes."

I nodded, dragging my splint along as I followed the signs to a small, secluded area. I still wasn't used to walking with the splint on, but I was getting better. I went to the first space provided, and began taking my jacket and shirt off. Just when I was about to take off my cami, the curtain slid open. My first reaction was to grab my shirt and scream, "Changing!"

The guy in the purple robe immediately blushed furiously and closed the curtain, mumbling, "I'm so sorry, Belzenef and I didn't mean to interrupt…"

As I slid my shirt back on, I opened the curtain back up. He had green hair, and I couldn't see his eyes. But he had a cat puppet, which, seeing as how there was no one else here, I assumed was Belzenef. "It's okay," I told him, eyeing his whole getup. "Why are you here?"

"I'm Nekezowa," he introduced, and continued, "I'm the president of the Black Magic Club. I'm afraid that bright light is not good for me, and this room is kept much more dimly lit." He blushed a little as he added, "So I didn't… see anything."

"It's fine," I reassured him. Then a thought occurred to me. "I've never heard of the Black Magic Club, where is it?"

"Ah, are you interested?"

"Honestly? Not really…"

I expected him to be offended, but he chuckled sort of creepily to himself. "Ah, most people aren't. But we specialize in voodoo dolls, if you are interested…"

I noticed he said ah a lot. I smiled. "Sorry, it's just not my type of thing." I looked at him a little closer, and realized he had bright blue eyes. Then I noticed a blond hair. I asked, peering a little closer, "Are you wearing a wig?"

"Ah, you've noticed." There he goes again with the ahs. He nodded. "You see, my blond hair reflects the light, thus I must wear this wig."

"That's too bad. I would've liked to see how you looked," I told him, smiling a bit. I gestured to the changing space, "Well, it was nice meeting you, Nekezowa, and Belzenef, but I really should get ready."

"Ah, until we meet again, Ms. Takara."

Okay, that was starting to annoy me. Did he always talk like that? As I turned back to the curtained area, I realized something. "How did you know my name?" I asked to the air. He was already gone, disappeared somewhere. "Weird," I mumbled, getting back to changing.

After my physical exam, inspiration hit. It was like someone just smacked with an amazing idea and kept yelling, "DO IT! DO IT! DO IT!" I couldn't ignore it, so the second I got to class I slid out my notebook and began writing furiously. Luckily, our literature teacher had told us we were writing short stories and then sharing with the class, so I wouldn't have to be worried about getting caught.

Truly, Nekezowa inspired this little tale. It was about a prince, who was born premature, his eyes sensitive to the light. After the castle was seized, he had managed to escape when he was four. He wandered the streets, where he met a stray tabby, whom he named Bells. He lived life as a beggar, but at night, he would perform spectacular magic, which he had inherited from his father. He never came out in the day, but people would always watch from their windows at night, delighted by his array of dark, but controlled magic.

Finally, the royal family regained the throne, but alas, our poor prince of the night couldn't recall any of his memories from when he was a child in the palace. One night though, he performed such spectacular magic, that the king saw from his window, that he knew his son must be out there. As he ran towards it, ignoring his wife, daughter, and the guards, he had lost sight of the show. Frantic, the king looked around everywhere for a sign, until his eyes spotted Bells.

The king usually didn't follow stray tabbies around, but he was desperate and took it as a sign. He followed the cat through alleyways, the feeling of black magic getting stronger and stronger with every turn. Finally, he saw a young lad in a robe, performing tricks that would astound the best of magicians. He instantly knew this was his son, and cried out to him, hugging him and crying and thanking the lord that he had finally found his lost son.

Suddenly, the memories came rushing back to the prince, and he wept along with his father, Bells just sitting and watching, as if he had known all along that this was his mission.

The queen and princess met their son and brother later that night, and a feast was to be held the next day. But, the chandeliers reflecting off the marble was too much for the prince to take, and he ran to the shadows, his eyes burning. As the royal family began to adjust to his needs, they set more dimly lit hallways and rooms, and even though they didn't always see him, you would know he was there by a flicker of black magic, or Bells, his faithful tabby that never left his side.

Just as I finished writing the last sentence, my teacher called out, "Takara Uzuki."

"Eh?" I asked, disoriented. I blinked and looked around before remembering I was in the classroom.

My teacher sighed. "Your story?" My class chuckled at my stupidity. I blushed as I scurried up to the front of the room, my notebook in hand.

I breathed out once, and began in a shaky monotone, "Is it fate that brings the royal prince down to a measly beggar?"

My teacher sighed, shaking her head. She whispered to me while the class was still watching, "Takara, you get so absorbed in your stories while you write them. But if you can't read to the class with confidence, no one else can."

What was the point of reading your stories? Aren't people supposed to _read _books? I suppose there were books on CD, but you hire someone else to do that. I sighed, taking a deep breath. I kept telling myself in my mind, _Get lost in the story, get lost in the story. _

I started over, more confidant, my tone clearer, "Is it fate that brings the royal prince down to a measly beggar? Could that be the answer to this prince of the dark's case?" I read through the story, getting wrapped into it. I forgot all about the class, all about Ouran, all about my life. All that mattered was telling the tale of Daitaro and Bells. I finished, "And so even though his presence was not always seen, whenever he was in the room, a flicker of black magic, or his faithful tabby Bells would appear, and it would always bring a smile to the royal family's faces to know that they were once again, united."

I returned back to Ouran, and was suddenly now very wary of the seemingly thousands of pairs of eyes, watching me. My teacher was smiling and nodding, as if she had suspected it all along. I almost felt like wiping that smug look off her face as I slid back into my seat, the embarrassment setting in.

Later, as class was dismissed for the day, the Hitachiin Twins confronted me in the hall. "Nekezowa," they stated bluntly at the same time, blocking my way.

"Eh?" I seemed to be saying that often. I blinked.

Hikaru rolled his eyes at my density. "Your story," he pressed, huffing. It reminded me of a diva. That was suiting.

Kaoru told me a little nicer, "You know, your prince in the story. That was Nekezowa, right?"

"Oh. Yeah, so?" I asked, getting a little impatient. Then Misa popped into my head, and I pretended like I was suddenly very interested in what they had to say instead of getting home.

Hikaru pressed, "How did you know him?"

I shrugged, smiling, "I met him at Physical Exams, with the special needs doctor."

Now the twins were circling and inspecting me, getting ready for a full-fledged interrogation. Kaoru asked, "Exactly how?"

"He almost accidentally saw me change."

This definitely caught their attention. They exchanged a murderous glance, and asked at the same time, "So he saw you in your underwear?"

I didn't want to give them any ideas, so I bluntly lied, "No. I said almost. I was taking my jacket off when he came in."

Apparently, this didn't soothe them. "That pervert," they hissed to each other, probably thinking of twenty different ways to torture him.

I raised an eyebrow. "Why do you care if he saw me without a jacket."

"He obviously had something more planned."

"How do you know?" I got an idea in my head, and I continued, a mischievous smile on my face, "Unless, of course, that idea of me changing and what he would do to me popped into your heads as perverted thoughts." I wasn't sure if this counted as flirting or teasing. Frankly, I didn't care, seeing how it made them feel uncomfortable.

Hikaru was the first to react, a mad blush on his and his twin's face, "Of course not! He just… seems like that type of person!"

"Well, you can't argue with that logic," I rolled my eyes, my voice dripping with sarcasm.

"What are you two doing now?" I peeked around Hikaru and Kaoru to find a very agitated and slightly impatient Haruhi. A group of boys was watching her.

I was thankful as the Hitachiins stepped aside and towards Haruhi, giving me the perfect chance to make my escape. I took a quick step around them and continued down the hall. I let out a small scream as someone grabbed me and shoved me towards the wall as I rounded the corner.

Misa was my kidnapper, and her face was serious. "What are you doing?" she hissed.

"Leaving…?"

"WHAT? Not now, not when you have their attention!"

"Misa! I just want to go home!"

"GET BACK THERE AND GET THEM TO ASK YOU OUT!" She shoved me back out, and I definitely got the twins and Haruhi's attention. Sometimes Misa was just a bit demanding and aggressive. But only just a bit.

I laughed nervously, quickly sending my hiding sister a death glare. I answered their questioning looks with a simple and stuttering, "I… forgot… something."

"What?" Hikaru asked, raising an eyebrow.

Misa was shooting me a look that probably meant if I didn't pop the question at that exact moment, she would probably break my neck. I bit my lip. "I just wanted to… ask you something."

"Yeah?" Kaoru asked, stepping a little closer to me.

I looked up at him, and suddenly my mind went blank. _Get a hold of yourself, it's simply asking them out, you can do it_, I thought. I breathed out deeply, and then quickly spit out, "Would-you-like-to-do-something-Friday-night?"

Both of the twins stared at me. Suddenly, I wasn't quite as confident about the plan. But I couldn't bluff now and get out of it, Misa would make sure of that. I quickly added, "You know, like, study? For the history exam." I didn't need to glance over to see Misa palm her forehead. It's a good thing no one could see her.

Hikaru and Kaoru exchanged a glance. I prayed to god they weren't thinking of rejecting me cold. They got a mischievous smirk on their faces, and they sauntered over to Haruhi, wrapping their arms around her. "Only if Haruhi comes!" they chimed.

I once again silently prayed she would say yes, if not for the sake of the plan, then for the sake of Misa not killing me. Haruhi thought for a moment, then shrugged. "Sure, I'll come." She sternly added, looking at the twins, "But we have to study."

"Aw, you're no fun, Haru."

I silently breathed out, relaxing. "Then come over at around five. Do you need directions?"

"Nah, we can look you up in the school directory," they told me, Hikaru adding, "And we'll pick you up, Haruhi!"

Haruhi grimaced. "I'd prefer going by myself."

"Alright, well… see you tomorrow!" I waved as I walked around the corner, only to be grabbed by Misa once again. She dragged me to the front of the school, and looked me straight in the eye.

"Study?! That's not even a real date!"

"Well, things aren't serious, yet. Besides, I panicked."

"Excuses, excuses." Misa watched as Hikaru and Kaoru walked out, side by side with Haruhi, pestering her and insisting they pick her up. Misa growled, which surprised me, and hissed, "We need to terminate Haruhi."

"MISA! We aren't taking it that far!"

"I mean get her out of the picture so you can have the Hitachiins to yourself. You need to break _both_ their hearts at the same time, and you can't do that if Haruhi is flirting with them constantly."

"Haruhi doesn't flirt with them. They just pester her. Plus, there _are_ two of them…"

"Details. Still, the Hitachiins annoy her in a flirting kind of way."

"Is there really such a thing?"

"Just go along with it. You need their undivided attention."

I sighed. "Misa, just forget it. Haruhi and them are just friends." I was already heading off to the limo, shaking my head. Sometimes Misa overreacted as well. It would be a shocker if she dated a calm, calculated guy.

Misa pouted as she caught up with me. "Fine, but don't say I didn't warn you," she told me sourly, getting into the limo.

About five minutes into the ride home, Misa remembered something. "Hey, you know what you said earlier?" she asked, a glint in her eye.

"Specify."

"There are two Hitachiin brothers."

"Well, you kind of need two if they're twins…"

"That's besides the point," she told me, getting annoyed. Misa continued, "Well, there's only one of you…"

Now I was getting annoyed. "Go on…" I pressed her.

Misa beamed at her genius, "So at one point, if they both like you, then they'll have to fight over you! And that might destroy their bond!"

"MISA! Once again, we aren't taking it that far!" I yelled, shocked.

Misa sighed. "Well, it'll happen."

I frowned. She was right. If I led both of them on, then they'd eventually have to decide who liked me more. More importantly, I might have to decide. How was I supposed to do that? I mentally shook my head, looking out the window. It would stop before then. I would break both their hearts before they broke their bond. After all, no one deserves to be alone.

Now though, I had a bigger problem to focus on. What the heck was I supposed to wear for our study da-… session.

* * *

**Disclaimer: I own only Misa and Takara.**

**So, Misa meets Nekezowa and gets the Hitachiin Twins to agree to a study session. You can't call it a date since Haruhi is there. Plus, I'm not sure if Takara wants to call it a date.**

**I also added a little fore-shadowing for Misa. See if you can spot it. ;) (No, it's not when she gets evil ideas)**

**Again, review! They help keep me inspired and keep going. This is Nimash, signing out!  
**


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

I looked myself over in the mirror, practicing my smile. Misa had picked out a cute orange tank top, a white skirt, and light orange flats for me. I kept primping, hearing Misa in the kitchen yelling things at the cooks like, "No, tortillas _so_ do not count as a snack!"

I laughed to myself softly, hearing Misa threaten him with filing a complaint with our mom and dad and having him fired if he didn't heed her every order. Misa definitely liked to be in charge. I was glad that she was helping me out, but relieved that she had decided not to make an appearance. I could imagine exactly what would happen if the Hitachiins saw my supermodel sister:

***Doorbell rings, Misa opens it. ***

**Misa: Hi, you must be Takara's friends.**

**Hikaru and Kaoru: *drool* Who are **_**you**_**?**

**Misa: *laughs cutely* I'm Takara's sister, Misa.**

**Hikaru and Kaoru: *drool some more***

**Haruhi: Uh, guys?**

**Hikaru: NOT NOW!**

**Kaoru: Can't you see we're talking to the beautiful goddess?**

***I run down to meet them***

**Me: Hey guys, glad you made it!**

**Hikaru and Kaoru: You never told us you had a **_**totally hot **_**older sister!**

***Plan failed, and now I have two drooling idiots in my house***

Okay, so maybe that was an exaggeration, but it was pretty close to reality. My heart stopped as I heard the doorbell ring. Now came the moment of truth. I ran down stairs, giving myself one final primp before opening the door to find Hikaru, Kaoru and Haruhi with their book bags.

Hikaru and Kaoru gave me s slightly hormone-filled look, but then ignored it. Haruhi just smiled a bit as she asked, "So where should we put our stuff?"

I smiled back, noticing Kaoru watching my every move. He seemed to be judging me, trying to figure me out. We couldn't let him find out about Seiko. He had to keep thinking I was Takara, and that we had never met before.

"We'll be in the living room, so if you'll follow me," I let them inside before locking the door and leading them over to our large living room. Haruhi immediately pulled out her history textbook, ready to get started like I was.

Unfortunately, the twins had different plans. "Hi-def?" they asked, Hikaru grabbing the T.V. remote and turning it on. They began flipping though channels, deciding on a soccer match.

Haruhi and I twitched. "You two are rude," Haruhi shook her head, apologizing to me, "Sorry, they don't have very large attention spans." I could tell Haruhi had meant to just point it out as a fact, but I had to keep from bursting out loud in laughter at the looks on the twins' offended faces.

"It's okay," I told her, "We can study after the match. After all, it shouldn't be too long now. It's Brazil against Ukraine, right?" I checked the television screen, seeing that I was right. "Oh yeah, it'll be over soon."

Kaoru raised an eyebrow. "You're into sports?"

I told him, hoping it would be something we had in common, "Well, mainly just soccer, but I guess basketball's pretty interesting."

"Us too." Yes, common interest found and secured!

Haruhi shrugged, "I don't get what's fun about watching a bunch of sweaty people chasing a ball."

"Eh, Haruhi fails to see the complexity and depth behind sports," Hikaru told me, watching as Haruhi took a seat on the sofa a few feet away from us. A maid brought out the snacks, and Hikaru and Kaoru helped themselves. Haruhi took a bite of a strawberry, but limited herself.

I laughed. "It's okay Haruhi, it's not like it's poisoned," I reassured her, offering her more.

She hesitantly took a little more, making Hikaru smile and tell me, "Haruhi's getting used to the fancier things in life."

As I predicted, the soccer match was over in a few minutes, Brazil securing the lead. I switched off the T.V., much to the twins' disliking. "Sorry, but you _did_ come over to study," I told them, pulling out my history textbook and notes.

Hikaru and Kaoru groaned, opening up their school bags. Haruhi told them, "You know, I need to keep my position as first in class in order to stay at Ouran." That got them focused. I bit my lip, remembering what Misa had said about Haruhi. The twins _were_ starting to focus after the idea of Haruhi leaving. I shook my head mentally. It's normal for good friends to be worried about each other.

"What was that?" Hikaru and Kaoru's ears perked up from a loud bang coming from upstairs. Haruhi jumped a little. I bit my lip.

"Excuse me for one minute," I apologized, running up the stairs. First stop, Misa's room. As I opened up the door, I saw Misa had set up a hidden camera somewhere in the living room and was stomping in frustration. My jaw dropped. "Misa?"

She stopped, looking at me. She rolled her eyes. "I had to keep an eye on you _somehow_. We still have a plan."

I shook the thought away. "Okay, whatever," I told her, and questioned, "So why are you stomping and getting everyone's attention?"

She sighed, palming her forehead. "Takara, you haven't done a single flirty thing since this started."

"It's studying, and there's Haruhi there. How am I supposed to flirt?"

"I don't know! Just do something!"

"Thanks Misa, you're such a big help."

Misa rolled her eyes. She told me, "Sorry, but it seems like you aren't that into this plan."

"I am, it just isn't serious yet."

"So when is it going to get serious?"

I froze in the doorway. Misa was looking at me calmly, her eyes blank. I sighed. "I don't know. But I want to take it slow."

Misa walked up to me, smiling. "I just want you to feel better, okay?"

I shared her smile. "Okay. Now help me think of an excuse about your stomping."

* * *

I walked back down stairs, meeting the Hitachiin and Haruhi's confused eyes. "Heh, sorry," I told them, "Looks like something fell."

Haruhi was packing up. "I really should be going," she told me, heading towards the front door. I let her out, and waved from the window.

I turned back to see Hikaru and Kaoru observing me. "I suppose you two want to leave?" I asked, letting sadness take over my face and voice.

"Yeah, we need to get going," Hikaru told me, heading out the front door. After he had walked a few feet, he realized his twin was still inside. "C'mon Kaoru!" he yelled over his shoulder.

"Be there in a second!" Kaoru yelled back, leaning out the doorway. He turned back to me, his expression becoming amused.

"What?" I asked, cocking my head to my side.

He leaned in dangerously close to my face, causing me to blush. He chuckled, "You look nice in my favorite color."

My hormones were buzzing. _Settle down_, I thought, _He probably does this to every girl he meets_. I decided to play along. I teased him, "So you're saying you think I'm pretty?"

Surprisingly, Kaoru didn't reply bluntly. He whispered, "You're a kind all your own, Takara. And I have to admit, that's interesting." He pulled his face back, my heart regaining normal beating. He smiled that signature smirk and yelled as he ran to his limo, "You're officially my new toy!"

I twitched. A toy? That's all he saw me as. I ran upstairs and flopped on my bed, face down. I should've figured. The plan was to get him to fall for me, not make him his toy. Besides, they already called Haruhi that. Was I to suffer the same fate? And why had only Kaoru told me I was his toy? Would Hikaru get Haruhi to himself and completely ignore me? _Damn twins_, I thought, _screwing up my plan_.

Misa walked in, jumping on my bed. "What did he say?" she asked, eager. She tried to find my face, but it was buried in a pillow.

"Im hrifs nrouw teosy," I mumbled, face still in a pillow.

"Eh?"

I sat up, irritated. "I'm just a stupid toy to him," I mumbled angrily, looking at the carpet.

Misa frowned. "History is repeating itself."

"Nah. This time it's only Kaoru."

"Only one, huh? I knew at least one of them likes Haruhi," Misa mumbled to herself, staring at the ground. Her feet swayed in thought. Her head popped up as she yelled, jumping, "That's it!"

"What?" I asked, watching as she danced around the room.

She stopped to face me, explaining, "You've got Kaoru's attention. Dump only him cold, and his brother will just share his pain! And since Hikaru obviously likes Haruhi, then Kaoru will get jealous…"

"And they'll fight a bit!" I finished jumping up. Normally, I would've rejected it right away, but I was a little desperate. I was definitely not going to be referred to as a toy.

Misa nodded. "Now get some dinner," she told me, already walking off to who knows where, "I have some plans to draw up."

I grinned. Okay, the plan was revised, but better than ever! History wouldn't repeat itself, because it was just Kaoru and I, and I would be the one to break his heart. All the while though, there was a teensy-weensy, tiny-whiny part of my heart that fluttered for just a second at the words _just Kaoru and me_. I shook my head. It was fluttering because now I had his undivided attention. Now was the time things got a little serious.

* * *

**Disclaimer: I don't own OHSHC. That honor is bestowed upon Bisco Hatori.**

**So, now Kaoru has proclaimed that Takara is his toy. And she's not too happy about it. But I have still left one question unanswered: How the heck does Nekezowa know Takara?!?! D: All will be revealed... whenever I feel like it. :P**

**Eh, this is more of a filler. Still, tell me what you think!  
**


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

I ran out the limo, my leg finally free of the splint. My grin couldn't be any wider. I had an awesome weekend, my splint was off, and the plan was better than ever. Nothing could ruin this perfectly sunny day! I could've played seven different viola pieces, written at least fifteen stories, or maybe just run around the school.

Nothing could ruin it!

An evil chuckle echoed from the hallway I was in. A cat puppet rounded the corner, a hooded figure soon following. Nothing could ruin this day, though, not even the dark aura surrounding Nekezowa. "Nekezowa," I greeted, suddenly remembering our last meeting. "How did you know my name?"

He lifted his sky blue eyes to look at mine. He chuckled. "Don't you remember? You always were bad at algebra."

I froze. He was the weird guy who tutored me every Thursday afternoon in junior high. Suddenly, I started sweating. Nothing could ruin this day, except for Nekezowa knowing my secret, of course. "But… I changed my name…."

"Yes, I never understood that. I always thought that name suited you, Seiko. But I guess you could say, a certain… cursed wax doll told me."

Yup, this was definitely the creepy guy who tutored me in math and science in middle school. He really hadn't changed much, except for getting taller. I pleaded, "Please don't tell anyone."

"Why not?" he asked me in his creepy, breathy voice.

I shifted my weight, uncomfortable. "It's kind of hard to explain…"

"Revenge?" I raised my eyebrows, hesitantly nodding. Nekezowa grinned evilly, "The cursed wax doll knew a lot."

"So… are you going to tell?"

"There's no point in telling anyone, so I suppose not." Nekezowa cocked his head to the side, his cat puppet doing the same. "But Belzenef and I can't help but wonder… Why?"

"Why what?"

"Why revenge and not forgiveness?"

The question caught me off guard, causing me to look at my feet in thought. As I looked back up, he was gone, again leaving me hanging. I shook it off. The only important thing was that he wasn't telling my secret.

I took my seat in class, pulling out my notebook. I shuddered as an arm looped around me, a honey-sweet voice cooing in my ear, "Did my favorite toy have a good weekend?"

_Resist the urge to yell_, I thought to myself over and over again. I needed to follow Misa's orders. I sighed. "It was actually quite lonely."

"Oh? Does Kaoru need to pay more attention to his toy?"  
I couldn't take much more of this. "Why are you speaking in third person?"

Kaoru had a childish beam on his face. "Does it annoy you?"

_Almost as much as the fact that I'm a toy_, I thought. "Not really."

Kaoru shook his head. "You're a really bad liar, you know." Oh, if only he knew how many lies I had already suggested to him. Kaoru smirked, "But I'll just have to find better ways to push your buttons."

"Lucky me." Kaoru laughed at my grimace, running off to join his brother.

I watched in silent fascination as they both poked at Haruhi, rambling and pestering her to no end. My ears quickly caught the words, "Because you're our toy." My eyes widened. I could already see my gold hair instead of Haruhi's. If her plan failed, Misa was dead. I would _not_ have that done to me every day!

* * *

After class, I took a deep breath as I opened the door to the third music room. I reminded myself it was for the sake of revenge, so it was worth it. Nekezowa's words echoed in my head: "Why revenge, and not forgiveness?" _Because those idiots deserve it_, I thought to myself.

"Welcome." The light was blinding, but once it disappeared, I found that the entire Host Club was assembled and dressed as waiters, or in Haruhi's case, a waitress.

"Hello," I smiled sweetly. "I would like to request the Hitachiin Twins."

"Right this way to your table!" they chimed, Kaoru adding, "My little toy." Sometimes, I really just wanted to disregard the plan and go with revenge the old-fashioned way: physical pain.

I seated myself, watching as two other girls eyed me. I recognized them immediately from my class, and gave them a polite smile. After deciding that I was here for the same reason they were, they smiled back, and then turned their attention to the Hitachiin Twins, eager for them to get started.

I simply looked around, not knowing what to expect.

Boy was I in for a surprise! Just as I had gotten comfortable, Kaoru managed to spill a teacup over, filled to the brim with hot tea. He cried out in pain, clutching his right index finger.

I was about to jump out of my seat and offer to take him to the nurse's office, when Hikaru beat me to the punch. Only, he wasn't planning on going to see the nurse. He yelled out, "Kaoru!" He took his brother's right hand and kissed it gently, cooling it down as a light blush crept over Kaoru's cheeks. "Honestly, Kaoru, you're so clumsy," he cooed, "You keep getting distracted. From now on, just keep your eyes… on me."

"Hikaru…"

"KYAAA~!"

I stared in disbelief, swallowing hard. I blinked. Once. Twice. Three times. And then, before I could control it, I got a bad case of the giggles. I doubled over in laughter, the customers stopping their squeals and looking at me in surprise. So did the other hosts, and even Hikaru and Kaoru broke out of their act to see what was so funny.

My laughter echoed off the marble floors, along with a "Gomen!" squeezed in between giggles. Suddenly, an idea sprang into my head, and inspiration flowed out with my chuckles. "Quick! Quick! Someone hand me a viola!" I burst out, hopping out of my seat, still giggling madly.

"What?" the twins, Tamaki, and Haruhi asked in unison.

Misa suddenly popped out, my favorite viola and bow in her hands, snapping at them, "Don't ask questions! Just let the girl play!"

Haruhi raised an eyebrow as I accepted the instrument. She asked, "And where did you come from?"

"I've been here this whole time. Now silence! My little sister is about to make magic happen!"

All the hosts and customers were suddenly gravely quiet as my giggles died down. I rested the viola on my shoulder, the bow in my right hand. Taking a deep breath to stop my chuckles so my body wouldn't shake, I began.

It was another original. Light, happy, quick, floating, echoing, snapping; it was an organized chaos of the viola laughing and yelling. I closed my eyes, Hikaru and Kaoru's act appearing in my mind, and I continued, trying to keep in my laughter. What words could not describe, the viola did perfectly.

As I finished with a quick pluck of a string, I opened my eyes, a huge and stupid grin on my face. I soon noticed that not only the customers and hosts stared in awe and contemplation, but also a few heads were poking in from the doorway and windows. I looked around the room, the hyper and happy mood of the day quickly replaced by embarrassment.

Misa clapped. She looked over to Kyoya, a glint in her eyes as she strolled over to my now fear-stricken body, exclaiming, "Wasn't that simply amazing?" Her eyes continued to lock with Kyoya's, a smirk on her face. Misa looked over to the audience, asking, "Wouldn't you love to hear that everyday?"

I gave Misa a "_Please don't do this to me_" look, grimacing. But to my utter surprise, there was a murmur of agreement spreading through the students.

Haruhi smiled at me, mumbling, "It reminded me of Tamaki playing the piano."

"We thought the first time we saw you play, it was a lucky shot," Kaoru admitted. I blushed as he complimented, "But that was pure talent."

"Genius! Oh, I wish I could hear it everyday!" Tamaki cooed. My blush grew.

Misa looked back at Kyoya, a glint in not only her eyes, but Kyoya's as well. I could tell they were plotting something, I just wasn't sure what. Suddenly, it snapped as I remembered Misa "just happening" to have my viola and be in the club at the same time I was and telling me to come. I gasped, "You planned this all along, didn't you?"

She gave me a Cheshire grin, her elbow still on my shoulder. "Guilty as charged."

Kyoya walked over to her, Misa straightening up. Gray eyes met blue as he asked, "What did you have in mind, Ms. Uzuki?"

"I'm glad you asked, Mr. Ootori," Misa faked his formalness, attempting to mock him. She couldn't stand business people. I suppressed another giggle attack, not 100% recovered from the last. She continued, "How would you like the Host Club to take Takara Uzuki as your new musical entertainment, free of charge?"

"WHAT?!" The outburst had not come from any of the customers, and the other observers had already begun to dissolve. It didn't come out of any of the hosts' mouths. Rather, I was the source. And it seemed like I was the only one the least bit surprised at the offer. "This is what you had in mind?" I hissed to my older sister.

Kyoya adjusted his glasses as they caught a glare, hiding his eyes, sending shivers up my spine. He asked, "Really, nothing in return?"

"Nope. Just the chance to play everyday for your wonderful club."

Tamaki cooed, "And at special events, too!"

Kyoya and Misa's eyes locked, seeming to have a silent conversation. Finally, Kyoya gave a fake smile and told her, "Very well. We'll discuss this in greater detail tomorrow. As of now, the Host Club will be closing." The customers began to leave, but I couldn't budge.

Hunny cheered, "YAY! We get to hear Taka's music!"

Suddenly, I felt an arm loop around my shoulders. Did I even need to look at the face? "And that means more time with my toy," a sickly sweet voice purred in my ear.

Misa shot me a look, telling me: "_That_ is why I set this whole thing up." Oh, she was good.

I still could barely budge, or make a move to speak. As the others began to pack up, Kyoya and Misa discussing details, Haruhi asked, "Well, doesn't Takara get a say in this?" _Thank you!_

Tamaki popped up in front of me, his violet eyes shining. "Oh, please do! It would be an honor to have you join the club as our musician!"

I looked to the faces of the hosts, all seemed to want me there for a different reason. Hunny looked cheery, and probably just liked my music and would like another friend to eat cake with. Mori looked at me with his stoic expression, probably just wanting Hunny to be happy. Haruhi looked like she didn't care too much, but she had enjoyed my music. Tamaki looked overjoyed at the fact of taking me in as a member, while Kyoya was just calculating how much profit he would earn. Misa wanted me to do it for the plan, and the victims of the plan had mischievous smirks that could mean no good for me. Although, in Kaoru's eyes, I could detect just the slightest hint of wanting me there, just to be here.

I kept staring at Kaoru. Something dragged me into those amber eyes and their gleam. Snapping out of my daze, I stared at the floor in embarrassment. Finally, I looked up, saying the words that started the madness of the rest of the year: "Sure, why not?"

* * *

**Disclaimer: I believe that Belzenef is the secret mastermind behind OHSHC, not me.  
**

**Man, OH MAN! I haven't updated this story in _forever!_ I would like to thank ****X-YukikoMisaki-X**** for sending me a review asking me where the heck this next chapter was. Arigato, for showing me that people are still interested in this story and that it was only my laziness keeping it from soaring. That, and I got writer's block :P But no more! Now, there are infinite possibilities...**

**Please, read, enjoy, and review! I need a ton of reassurance and support with this story, it was never one that came as naturally as the others. Anyways, thanks for bearing with me with this review that took literally _months_ to do. See you all later, and stay tuned!  
**


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

The first day on the job. When you hear that phrase, what do you think of? Do you want to make your boss proud? Do you need this job for a certain reason? Are you nervous? Are you shocked you even made it that far?

Me? I just wanted to live through it. And that was harder than you may think.

I packed up, the final bell chiming. My fellow classmates were already pouring out the door, chattering nonstop about their after school plans. All I wanted to do was forget about mine.

It wasn't that I regretted joining the club; after all, it would help with my revenge. However, I already had three of the members in my class, and that was more than I could bear. Now I had to deal with all seven! Not only that, but I hated playing in front of crowds. I didn't even know what kind of music they wanted me to play.

I sighed, finally closing my bag. Just as I walked out the door, a breathy voice asked, "Going somewhere… Seiko?"

"AH!" Realizing it was just Nekezowa, I let out a deep breath. I told him, "Actually, I'm heading to the Host Club."

"Ah, yes, I heard you're their new musician."

I grimaced. "That's me."

He cocked his head to the side, Belzenef doing the same. "If you can't stand the twins, then why are you joining?" he asked in his creepy tone.

I looked him straight in the eye. "You know yourself that I have a plan for revenge. And this is for the sake of the plan."

"So… you don't admit to actually being attracted to one of the twins?"

I blushed madly, my eyes widening. I looked at the ground, spouting, "No! Absolutely not! I don't feel the slightest thing for either of them! Especially Kaoru! What made you think that?"

Nekezowa chuckled darkly as he disappeared around a corner, muttering over his shoulder, "Actually, I never even mentioned Kaoru…" Damn.

I wished he'd stop calling me that. Seiko was the weak "tomboy". Seiko was the one with the broken heart. Seiko was everything I had left behind. Takara, that's who I was. Confident, smart, and cunning. And now, I was confident that the question simply got me off guard; it was personal, after all.

I continued walking, until I was nearly given a heart attack for the second time that day. "You better hurry, Takara, or you'll be late." I looked up to see Kaoru looking down at me, a playful smile on his face. I noticed that for once, he hadn't called me his toy.

"I was kind of hoping for that," I grimaced, watching him chuckle. I then noticed something… "Where's Hikaru?"

Kaoru went silent, and looked straight ahead. I had hit a nerve. He mumbled, "Wasn't feeling well, so he skipped the club today. I hope it isn't too serious…"

I studied his face for another minute. He was utterly and genuinely disappointed, saddened, and worried. Could he really love his twin so much that he couldn't bear to be separated for more than an hour? I thought back to middle school, remembering seeing them always together, and never with anyone else. It wasn't so surprising anymore.

"So, are you ready for your first day?" Kaoru asked, sliding his arm around my shoulder.

"No."

He laughed again, teasing, "Aw, but I bet you're ready to spend another hour with me, huh Takara?"

I blushed as he leaned in, whispering the last part in my ear. "C-can you s-s-stop that?"

He chuckled seductively, only leaning in closer. "Why? Are you perhaps falling for me, Takara?"

I stopped cold in my tracks. I wanted to yell at him so badly. But instead, I couldn't budge. I unconsciously fingered the locket the twins had given me, and realized I hadn't even thought about taking it off since they gave it to me.

"C'mon Takara, we're going to be late!"

My head snapped up as I followed Kaoru mechanically, my mind elsewhere. At least he wasn't pushing the matter. Perhaps being without Hikaru made him quieter and gloomier than usual.

However, my mind was already replaying one of my memories from long ago, thinking back to what Kaoru said just seconds ago. _"Are you perhaps falling for me, Takara?"

* * *

_

_I looked around at the class nervously, my eyes resting on the only pair of identical twins I had ever seen in my life. "Class, this is our transfer student, Takara Uzuki." I couldn't hear my teacher, though._

_ I was lost. Pulled into and drowning in those beautiful amber eyes that seemed bored and uninterested in me. The two pairs were similar, yet had different gleams in their eyes. One had a more childish and kind gleam, while the other was more mischievous. They were twins, all right, but inside, they were individuals._

_ "If you could please take a seat next to Miss Suzuki, Takara?"_

_ "Yes sensei." I walked past the staring boys and girls, having only eyes for the ginger-haired identical twins in the third row. I still remembered their exact seats to this day._

_ I took my seat slowly, my eyes never away from the back of one of the twin's heads. It was the one with the kinder gleam in his eyes from before, and I found my chin resting on the palm of my left hand._

_ "Hi, I'm Sora Suzuki," the girl next to me introduced herself, forcing me back to reality. She asked, "So, you're Takara?"_

_ "Yup, that's my name, don't wear it out."_

_ "I hope you don't mind me asking, but… why are you wearing the boy's uniform?"_

_ I looked over at the girl. At the time, looks didn't matter for me, but I noticed she had extremely pretty blue eyes, and her black hair was long and straight as a stick. She wore the girls' uniform with the miniskirt._

_ I looked down at the uniform I was wearing. My short hair barely fell past my ears. I replied, "I just don't like wearing skirts, is all." I was a tomboy, and a proud one at that. No makeup, no magazines, nothing even associated with the word "girly". I could tell though, that I wasn't going to make a ton of friends here. All the same, I was only staying here for a year._

_ Sora blinked, but smiled kindly. "That's cool. Anyways, if you need anything, just ask."_

_ I smiled back at her, her fair and pale skin was like porcelain compared to my blemished and freckled skin. I looked back to the identical twins, who hadn't even spared me a passing glance. "Actually," I kept staring at the back of the boys' heads as I asked, "Who are those twins?"_

_ Sora sighed, explaining, "That's Hikaru and Kaoru Hitachiin. They don't really talk to anyone, and don't have any friends. I feel bad for them, really. I want to get to know them, to tell them apart, but I think that-"_

_ I buzzed out her psychological crap as I refocused my attention on Hikaru and Kaoru. Sora continued talking about her theory, and I rolled my eyes inwardly. No one was going to listen to all of that if you wanted him or her to be your friend. I stared at the boys intently, my heart and stomach fluttering. I had never felt this before…_

_ "And a lot of girls have crushes on them, but they don't like anyone."_

_ My heart sank. But I couldn't let it end at that. I knew I would get to know those two, no matter how twisted and protected they were. And slowly over the year, I fell for them. They were my first crushes. But you know how well that worked out…_

"Hey, Takara, you in there?" Kaoru waved a hand in front of my face, watching amused, as I was absorbed with my memory. No, I wasn't going to let that happen again. I had already fallen once, and I was still trying to get back up.

"Oh," I snapped back to reality, watching as Kaoru opened the door for me, allowing me to step inside. The whole room looked like a jazz café, and I looked around to see the others had changed into French stereotype outfits. You know, black and white striped shirts, berets, ribbons around their necks, the whole nine yards. Kaoru had disappeared to change, leaving me with the others.

Tamaki popped up in front of me, handing me a bundle of clothing. He pointed over to the dressing rooms, cooing, "Now hurry and change so Daddy can see how cute you look! And there's a kit for curling your hair quickly!"

I grimaced, walking over to a changing stall. Déjà vu; that was how I met Nekezowa again… I changed into the white and black striped shirt, black miniskirt, and black flats. I tied the orange red ribbon around my neck, and followed the kit's instructions to curl my hair for a few hours. I still couldn't believe I was doing this.

I walked out of the stall, adjusting the black beret and the two orange red clips keeping the right side part of my bangs back. I could've passed for a French girl, if my hair had only been a few shades lighter of a blond, and without any signs of brunette.

The others looked at me with approval, Tamaki pointing to a viola set up in the corner. He explained that I needed to play something (preferably French) and walk around, like I was in a café. Okay, I would play, but there was no way I was acting.

Haruhi looked over to me, wearing a similar outfit as she took a seat. She mumbled, "You know, Tamaki is half-French."

"I always thought he had that European flair of doing things…"

And so began my first day on the job.

I didn't really know what to expect the customers to be talking about. But maybe I should've set my standards lower. This school may have been full of geniuses, but these girls sounded so idiotic, and even some of the boys were being morons. I managed to pick up one conversation in particular, as I let the bow slide up and down along the strings, letting the European style tune echo around the room.

"So, did you hear?"

"What?"

"See that necklace that Takara girl is wearing?"

"Yeah…"

"The _twins_ gave it to her."

"No way!"

"Shh! She'll hear us…" Oh, the irony.

"Why'd they give it to her?"

"I don't know, but she hasn't taken it off since!"

"Do you think she's trying to get in the way of their brotherly love?"

"I think so…"

I let the note end sharply, the whole room turning towards me to see why I had stopped mid-note. The two gossipers realized that I was now standing right in front of their table, and they let their heads hang. Oh, no, they weren't getting off that easy. No one messes with me and gets away with it!

I plastered on a fake smile, the whole room watching. I oozed in a sickly sweet voice, "I'm sorry for interrupting, but I couldn't help but notice that you two 'just happened' to mention my name, and quite a rumor with it."

One of the girls, the one who started the gossip, chimed and cooed, "Oh, no, Takara. We were merely-"

"Save it," I cut her off mid-sentence, too ticked off to let her finish, "I heard the whole rumor."

"Rumor?" the other one acted as if that was the most shocking assumption ever made. She giggled nervously, "Oh, no, Takara! You must've heard us wrong, what with your beautiful playing."

"Flattery will get you nowhere," I deadpanned. I gave them a glare, asserting, "And I'm pretty sure I heard you right. And now that we have everyone's attention, why don't we go ahead and see if anyone else heard correctly, shall we?" I looked up at the stunned faces. One of them was smirking, though. It was Kaoru. But he wasn't smirking at me. Instead, he was smirking at the two girls. Was he actually on my side…?

I brushed the thought away, standing there, clutching the viola and bow while grinding my teeth. "I believe your little assumption went a little something like this: You commented on my locket, and were correct that the twins did in fact give it to me. _However_, you assumed it was because I was trying to break up their 'brotherly love'. I'll have you know that they gave it to me as a get-well gift when I sprained my ankle. Are you really so shallow as to soothe your own jealous minds by spreading false rumors about me?"

The two girls, and the rest of the room for that matter, were staring at me, gaping. I simply looked around at the different tables, asking, "Did anyone else hear that as well?"

I watched with smug pleasure as a few brave boys and girls close to the table I was standing in front of raised their hands sheepishly. Kyouya was the first to act. "I'm sorry, young ladies, but I will have to kindly ask you to leave. We don't appreciate gossiping about any of our members."

The girls were so embarrassed that they scooted out of the room without another word, their heads hung low. I simply watched, a smirk growing on my face. After a minute of staring at the door that the two girls had just went through, the room returned to its normal chatter. Just as I was about to resume playing, an arm slid around my shoulder, an all too familiar voice cooing, "Not bad for a toy."

I spared him a glance before moving on. "Careful," I teased, "People might start to believe you're actually falling for me and just spread more rumors."

I kept walking, placing the viola on my shoulder, half-expecting him to follow me and push me further. But to my surprise, Kaoru simply stood still for a moment, and then walked back to his customers.

Other than that, the rest of hosting hours were boring. I packed up the viola, and grabbed my book bag, about to head out to my limo, when Kaoru suddenly popped up beside me, asking out of the blue, "What are you doing Saturday?"

I blinked, stunned that he was asking _me_ out. "Um… Nothing, I guess…"

"Oh, well, then… See, I need someone to model a few of Hikaru and my fashions for us, so I was wondering if you could come over this weekend, before lunch…"

"S-sure. Yeah, that'd be great."

"Okay, see you then!" And with that he ran off, his confidence and happiness back. Maybe he was excited that he was going to see his brother.

I smiled, sliding into the limo. Maybe joining the Host Club wasn't such a bad idea after all.

* * *

**Disclaimer: *le gasp* I do not own OHSHC! *faints***

**Yeah, a French Jazz Cafe theme. 'CUZ I'M THAT ORIGINAL.**

**Sorry for the super long hiatus/break thing, guys... Ran out of steam to write for my fanfics. Hope you all enjoyed this chapter!  
**


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

It was Saturday. The exact same Saturday that I was going over to the Hitachiins' mansion to model for them. Needless to say, Misa was overjoyed.

"Now remember," she told me, laying out my outfit for the day on my bed while I straightened my hair after taking a shower. It was around 10 A.M., and I would be leaving in about an hour. Misa looked up from her ensemble, visibly pleased with herself, then turned her gaze towards me, continuing, "The Host Club is holding a ball in two weeks, something about spring. You _need_ to have Kaoru ask you to it."

I stopped straightening my hair, my mouth hanging open. "How do you know there's a dance in two weeks? Even I didn't know that, and I'm actually in the club," I asked her, incredulous.

She gave me a sly grin, and then turned away, heading towards my door with a skip in her step, practically singing, "It pays to have the boys in charge in your classroom." Tamaki and Kyoya. Of course! Misa had either:

A) Flirted the calendar events out of Tamaki, or

B) Flipped through Kyoya's papers while he wasn't looking.

There were probably even more strategies that she had thought of, but I decided it was time for me to focus more on looking my best.

Misa slid into the limo beside me, and I slipped my cell phone into the pocket of my jean capris. I bit my lip as the driver pulled out of the driveway, heading to the address Misa had given him. I looked at my older sister, so calm and confident, and asked, "Any modeling tips?"

Misa rolled her eyes, laughing. "C'mon, Takara! He asked you over because he wanted to spend time with you, not because he actually wants you to model. He'll probably be more focused on making a move than if you're ready for the catwalk."

"But Hikaru will be there."

Misa shook her head, explaining, "The way I see it, either Hikaru is ill in bed, which will cause Kaoru to worry, and pay a little less attention to you, or Hikaru dragged Haruhi over and is going to focus on her."

I stared out the window, watching the scenery pass by. Finally, our chauffer pulled up into a driveway, opening the door for me. I looked at Misa one last time, as she told me calmly, "Don't worry. Just be yourself, and make sure to flirt. I'll pick you up at around noon."

I nodded, and stepped out of the limo, making my way to the front door. I took a deep breath, and just as I was about to knock, a very dull and bored-looking maid opened the front door, greeting, "Are you Takara Uzuki?" I nodded. "We've been expecting you. Please step inside, and I'll lead you to the young masters."

I looked around the classy mansion, as the maid swiftly led me through corridor after corridor after corridor. After what seemed like an hour of walking, but was really only around ten minutes, she stopped in front of a door, opening it and letting me step inside.

I immediately saw Kaoru, shifting through a rack of clothing, Hikaru talking away to Haruhi. I felt a little awkward, as no one had seen me come in. What was I supposed to say? "Umm… hi…" I mentally slapped myself. Real intelligent, Takara.

Kaoru turned, a smile growing on his face. "Great, you're here!" I just nodded dumbly. As Misa had predicted, Hikaru had dragged Haruhi over, and Kaoru told him, "Hey, why don't you take Haruhi to the other room and let her model for you? I'm fine here with Takara."

Hikaru nodded, dragging Haruhi by the wrist, yelling over his shoulder, "We'll have lunch at 12, Kaoru!"

He nodded, turning back to me and grinning. "So, want to see what I have picked out for you?"

Did I have a choice? "Sure," I shrugged, following him back to the rack. I bit my lip. If there was anything along the lines of seductive, I was leaving. Luckily, though, it was winter and spring clothing.

He shoved a large pile of spring dresses into my hands, telling me, "There's a dressing room in the corner over there. Try one on and show me!"

I took a deep breath as I locked the door behind me, dumping the girly clothing onto the bench. Picking through the clothing, I soon found a nice enough sundress to try on with sandals.

As I stepped out, I could tell Kaoru looked pleased. "Well, model it a bit for me." The first thing that popped into my head: Crap.

I'm no model. I mean, I may not be klutzilla, but I'm not exactly graceful, either. Don't you remember that the reason I got the locket in the first place was because I tripped? If you wanted someone fierce and graceful, you were looking for Misa. "Um…" I mumbled, fidgeting under Kaoru's gaze, "I'm not much of a model…."

He laughed, telling me, "Well, okay then. Just have fun!" Without warning, he pulled out a small remote from his pant's pocket and a song blasted through speakers hidden somewhere. He obviously planned that. Oh he was good…

I really wasn't comfortable with this. "Look, if you really want a model, you should ask my sister Misa. She's done tons of commercials, and fashion shows, and-" I was already trying to escape to the door, but Kaoru grabbed my wrist and yanked me back towards the center of the room, rolling his eyes.

"C'mon Takara, live a little!" I gulped, not exactly knowing where he was going with this. I didn't have to wait long, though.

He promptly began to spin me around as if we were ballroom dancing, and I had to admit, he was pretty good at it. I laughed, spinning around for so long that I was falling all over the place. Kaoru laughed right along with me as I tried to hold onto him for support, but only managed to fall on top of him, sending us both crashing down and landing on the floor in a giggling mess, with me sprawled on top of him.

"Young Master Hitachiin?" I bit my lip and jumped up as a voice echoed outside in the hallway.

Kaoru quickly turned the music down, smoothing out his shirt, and the door opened to reveal a maid just as I had scrambled into a chair, still dizzy from all the spinning and falling.

"Is everything quite alright?" The maid looked at me meaningfully, as if Kaoru was caught fooling around with girls everyday.

Kaoru flashed her the signature Hitachiin grin/smirk, replying, "Why wouldn't anything be fine?"

The maid didn't reply, but I could tell from the bored look on her face that she already knew full well what might happen, and that no matter what she did, it would happen, and she would clean up later. "Please call me if you need anything," she directed more towards me.

As she shut the door behind her, and her footsteps finally died down, Kaoru and I looked at each other, and burst out laughing. "Oh god, I didn't think I could stifle my laugh for much longer," I breathed out in between giggles, gripping my sides.

Kaoru nodded, taking a breath after he stopped chuckling. "How about we just listen to a little music so no more maids come and interrupt us?"

I nodded, smiling. I would never admit it out loud, but this date was actually turning out to be plenty of fun. We managed to settle down, sitting next to each other, as Kaoru controlled the hidden stereo system with his remote. "I found a pretty good song, but it's in English," he told me, skipping a few songs impatiently. "But I looked up the meaning; but Kyoya said you lived in America for a while, so I figure you know English. Anyway, just listen to it."

Apparently the song came on, because he looked satisfied and settled into his seat, watching my reaction. I got a little squeamish under his gaze, so I closed my eyes, taking in the music. It was pretty good music, alternative, and sounded like some of the stuff I liked, so I started listening to the lyrics. I kind of wish I hadn't.

_Wide awake_

_My mistake_

_So predictable._

_You were fake,_

_I was great,_

_Nothing personal._

_I'm walking,_

_Who's laughing now? (Who's laughing? Who's laughing now?)_

_I've wasted wasted time._

_Talked for hours but you're wasting lines._

_Pretty face but the chase ain't worth the prize._

_I'm gonna break your little heart,_

_Watch you take the fall,_

_Laughing all the way to the hospital._

'_Cause there's nothing surgery can do._

_When I break your little heart in two!_

_I'm gonna break your little heart in two!_

I squeezed my eyes shut a little tighter, every inch of my being filled with worry. Kaoru said he had looked up the meaning, and all I could think was: Oh god, he knows my secret, he knows what I'm doing, oh crap…

I tried to remain cool on the outside, but apparently it wasn't working because Kaoru quickly asked, "Are you okay?"

Opening my eyes, I simply told him, "I'm fine." I took a deep mental breath, and closed my eyes again, trying to forget the lyrics.

It wasn't working.

_Party queen,_

_Cause a scene,_

_So ridiculous._

_Little dress,_

_Maybe less,_

_So conspicuous._

_You're falling,_

_Who's crashing now? (Who's crashing? Who's crashing now?)_

_I've wasted wasted time._

_I'm moving on, but you're left behind._

_Pretty face but the chase ain't worth the prize._

All the time while I was listening, closing my eyes, memories flashed in my mind, vivid and painful. It seemed like every line of this song could apply to something that had happened. Kaoru just _had_ to know what I was up to, so he picked the song, and the second it was over, he was going to put an end to my plan and make my life miserable.

Finally, I opened my eyes and decided to ask him, "So what's the song called?"

"Break Your Little Heart by All Time Low," he told me, and much to my relief he paused the song, seeming to get a little more serious. It's moments like these that you make sure you pay attention; especially when you know that the guy who's about to speak is also the one who knows exactly what you're doing and is about to bust you. I bit my lip, mentally preparing myself as he opened his mouth to speak. "You know, it's kind of ironic," he told me, my heart beat quickening. Here it comes, he's going to call me out right now and- "This song reminds me of what Hikaru and I used to do in middle school." –that was completely unexpected.

I let out a small sigh of relief, but quickly regained my serious nature. I decided to play clueless, since as far as Kaoru knew I had never met him before, and asked, "What did you do?"

He bit his lip, obviously hesitant. He probably still didn't quite trust me enough yet. Smart boy. Still, he told me in barely more than a mumble, "Well, girls used to write love letters to us…" And from there, it was like a walk down memory lane, only from Kaoru's perspective. Suddenly, I gained a whole new view. On one hand, most girls didn't even bother to try to get close enough to them to tell them apart… But on the other hand, what they did was still wrong. Honestly, this little blast from the past only made my heart ache a little more from the memories, and my head a little more confused.

"But there was one girl," Kaoru cracked a small, sad smile, as he told me, far off in his own little world, "Who did seem like she cared. What was her name…? Oh yeah, Seiko. Honestly, she wasn't that smart, or attractive, and she was a huge and stubborn tomboy."

You do not understand how hard it was not to punch him right then and there while screaming, "I'll show you stubborn little tomboy!"

"But, it seemed like she honestly cared when I look back on it." My teeth stopped grinding against each other, and my eyes widened. So after all these years, he still remembered me… Kaoru looked at me, continuing, "She would try to get us to talk to her at lunch sometimes, and whenever the teacher told us to work in pairs, she would always ask us if we were going to work together, and that if we weren't, she would work with one of us. It was so bizarre, so… different. She was the odd one of the class, the standout, the tomboy, but in a good way." He sighed. "But in the end, when she did finally write a love letter to me, and put it on the right desk, we played the exact same trick on her."

I knew this part by heart, but I let him finish. "And she didn't fall for it." He still looked shocked, shaking his head, "It was surreal. But in the end, we just both came out and just made rude remarks at her, tearing up her letter. I guess at the time, Hikaru and I figured it was just a fluke. I still remember how heart-broken she looked, like all the other girls, but in the end… she slapped us."

I watched, slightly stunned, as Kaoru honestly chuckled, looking at me and emphasizing, "She just _slapped_ both of us right then and there. She yelled at us, like the other girls did, but Hikaru and I were still getting over the fact that she _slapped_ us. But then again, she _was_ the tomboy." Kaoru saddened a bit, finishing, "She moved away that same day, but I don't know where. I still wonder what happened to her sometimes."

How's that for irony? I almost blurted out, "I'm right here Kaoru! What about now? Would you accept me and go out with me now?" but decided against it for obvious reasons.

The air was filled with quiet and awkwardness. What was I supposed to do? I bit my lip as I realized there was a reason Kaoru had wanted to forget those days. He smirked, his old self returning as he told me, "So, what are you going to give me?"

"Eh?" I just stared at him, utterly dumbfounded.

His smirk only grew as he explained, "Well, I just told you something completely personal and I think that deserves something in return." He was playing with me; I could see it in his eyes. But what was I supposed to do?

"Okay… What would you like to know?" Thousands of options flashed in my head, from phobias to embarrassing moments to grades…. And then it hit me. He probably just told me that whole story because he wanted me to spill something so he could blackmail me, like my fear of bees. The little jerk…

He stood up, his chair grinding against the floor, so I followed his example. "Oh, I don't really want to know anything…" His smile was coy, and he looked like he was about to do something I wasn't going to like.

I started making my way to the dressing room, trying to find an excuse to hold him at bay, telling him, "It's almost time for me to go, and I really should get changed."

"What's the rush Takara?" He leaned against the stall's wall that jutted out with his elbow, soothing, "I'm not asking for much…"

I realized I had no way to escape, so I planted my feet on the ground and stared him straight in the eye, telling him, "Your definition of 'much' and my definition of 'much' are two totally different-"

I never got the chance to finish, as he cut me off by planting his lips on mine, a faint blush on his face. My eyes widened in shock, but I soon closed them, enjoying the sensation. I had to admit, it was like I was floating on Cloud 9, and Kaoru was a good kisser. Not that I would have anything to compare to, considering that this was my first kiss. Yes, Kaoru Hitachiin had officially stolen my first kiss ever. At first I was slightly furious that he would do something so rash and bold and without my permission, but after about half a second it faded away into bliss.

Of course, it wasn't long until we tried this again, and that soon turned into open-mouthed kissing, my arms around Kaoru's neck and his right hand snaking its way down to my waist, his left holding my neck. In just a couple of minutes, we were full out making out, traveling to the dressing room and sending clothes flying as I laid down on the bench.

This probably would've continued for at least another hour, if a maid and my own sister hadn't interrupted us.

I could faintly hear someone call down a hallway, "Thanks again for showing me to my sister, I would definitely get lost in a huge mansion like this!" I couldn't tell if Kaoru had heard, but I soon forgot about it.

It was only when the door creaked open that both of us stopped cold, our cheeks flaming as we realized that the maid and my sister had spotted us, seeing as how the door to the stall was wide open. Kaoru quickly got off of me, standing up and making his way out, blushing as madly as I was. I quickly yelped to my speechless sister, "I just need to change. You can wait in the limo…"

The maid gave her a small look, as if trying to tell her that she should stay and make sure we didn't get out of hand again, but Misa only winked, making me blush more, and told me, "Take your time."

I shut the door, sliding to the floor, and fingered first the locket, and then my lips. A small smile crept its way to my lips, as I kept thinking about how amazing those last minutes were.

After changing, I made my way past Kaoru, who was now leaning against a wall, looking out of the window. I mumbled a goodbye, trying to make my way out of the room and hide my embarrassment. Right as I was about to leave into the labyrinth of hallways, Kaoru grabbed my wrist, calling out, "Wait!"

I turned around to face him, letting him hold my arm. I didn't say anything, so he quickly blurted out, "The Host Club is having some Spring Ball in a couple weeks, and dates are required. Do you want to go with me?"

I was speechless, simply staring at him. Finally, my brain seemed to start working again, and I mumbled, "Y-yeah. Of course."

He smiled, and my heart fluttered. I tried to control it, but it was probably in orbit by now. "I'll see you at school later."

All I could do was nod, then quickly run down the halls, ignoring the bored maids who offered to help me. I was too confused to ask for any help.

Even as I slid into the limo, my head was spinning. What I had experienced before… that wasn't the plan. I closed my eyes and rubbed my temples, the whole day flashing before my eyes. "So, how did it go?" My eyes flickered open to see Misa, who looked very mischievous, leaning towards me in her seat in front of me.

"Confusing." I shut my eyes again, trying to get a hold of my feelings. I knew I had to hate him, but I just… couldn't… but I could, when I thought back to what he did to me… but he still remembered me after all this time… No matter how hard I tried to organize my mind, to get set back on the plan, I just couldn't. And to make it worse, that song's chorus was now stuck in my head…

_I'm gonna break your little heart,_

_Watch you take the fall,_

_Laughing all the way to the hospital._

'_Cause there's nothing surgery can do._

_When I break your little heart in two!

* * *

_**Disclaimer: Consider it done.**

**Heh, heh... Kissing scenes are always a little awkward for me to write...**

**That aside, I'm pretty proud with this chapter. :D Especially since I've been in a bit of a rut with writing chapters these days... I guess that means we have reason to celebrate! XD**

**Anyway, yeah. Probably not going to be a ton of chapters left. Maybe, like, 5 more, or something, idk.**

**And about Takara's fear of bees? Just a useless piece of trivia that I needed to throw in. Wanna hear the back story? :D She's afraid of bees because when she was in 4th grade, she was climbing a tree to prove to all the boys that she was just as tough as them, and found a beehive. The boys started throwing rocks at her, she lost her balance easily, and she managed to tumble to the ground, taking the beehive with her. Needless to say, the bees were pretty ticked off at her, and she was covered in bee stings in a matter of minutes. Of course she started crying from the pain, so all the boys called her a wimp, and ran off to find her sister. Misa took her home, and took care of her for a day while the bee stings still hurt. Takara is afraid of bees because they showed a weakness of hers to the boys, and they caused her half as much pain as the Hitachiin Twins later did, which is really saying something.**

**Oh, and a fear of bees is called apiphobia. Just in case you were wondering, or something... :)**

**_Every time you fail to push this button, _**

**_your favorite Host Club member is stung by a bee._**

**l**

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	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

I was silent the rest of the weekend, and on the drive to school on Monday morning. Misa kept trying to pry information out of me, and I could tell she was worried when I wouldn't talk, so I just mumbled that he had asked me to the dance as planned. She still wasn't satisfied, though. Something was on her mind, and I wasn't sure what it was until we were at school.

We were walking through the front courtyard, almost at the front doors, when Misa suddenly asked, "Do you really want to go through with the plan?"

The question caught me off guard, and I watched Misa's face for any clues as to why she was asking me. All I could find was genuine concern and worry. "Of course," I told her, still baffled. "Why are you asking me?"

She sighed, explaining as she opened the doors, both of us walking side by side, no sign of the twins, "Well, it's just that when I saw you kissing Kaoru, at first I almost thought it was because you were doing it for the sake of the plan, but… Takara, you really seem to genuinely like him. Are you sure you don't just want to drop the revenge right now? It would lessen the chance of them finding out, too…"

My eyes widened. Misa, my own sister who had helped me plan the revenge, was now suddenly sounding suspiciously like Nekezowa… "Positive! You remember the motto: Get hurt, get over it, and get revenge."

As we got closer to her homeroom, Misa bit her lip, giving me a sideways glance while sighing, "If you're sure"

I turned to face her, forcing her to stop right before she opened the door to her homeroom. "I've never been more sure in my life." I've also never told a bigger lie in my life. My whole head was spinning and reeling, trying to get my feelings and thoughts straight. But if I let Misa know, she would definitely make sure to call the whole thing off. I smiled, asking, "Oh, and have you met a boy named Nekezowa?"

Now it was her turn to look confused, answering, "No…"

"I'll have to introduce you two sometime," I told her, a small smile on my face as I waved goodbye, watching as she only grew more baffled before disappearing into her homeroom.

I slowly turned the handle of the door to my class, knowing that I would have to face Kaoru. Oh dear god this was going to be awkward…

I avoided eye contact with him, a blush creeping into my cheeks at the mere sight of his amber eyes. From the quick glance I stole at him before I took my seat, he had a faraway look in his eyes, and was obviously thinking.

Just when I thought I was home free, a hand appeared on the side of my desk, and upon looking up from my notebook, I saw Hikaru leaning against the wood. "Okay, what happened with you and Kaoru on Saturday?"

I bit my lip, getting extremely embarrassed and decided to stall. "Well, why are you asking?"

"He's barely said a word to me about it, he's daydreamed all this weekend, and he keeps blushing every time I bring it up. So I'm asking you again: What happened?"

This wasn't working. Instead, I freaked out a little more on the inside and tried to stall once more. "Well, what happened with you and Haruhi? I barely heard you guys in the next room."

His face suddenly grew serious and sad, and he looked away, replying moodily, "Nothing."

"If you tell me what, then I'll tell you what happened."

He looked torn, but I guess his love for his brother won because he decided to answer me. "We talked." Well, isn't that just poetic? "Now tell me."

I sighed. What was I going to say? Hey, Hikaru, I made out with your twin on Saturday, and I'm now completely confused as to my feelings and if I want to continue with my revenge. But enough about me, how are you today? This situation called for more stalling: "That's not a real answer. What did you talk about?"

"None of your business."

"Well then, I suggest you keep asking Kaoru what happened, because I won't tell you until I get an answer."

Hikaru didn't look quite angry, but more just annoyed. Exasperated, he rolled his eyes and gave up, making his way back to his seat as class began, mumbling, "That was suspicious…" I let out a deep breath, thankful that he wasn't pressing it. But he would eventually find out, and I knew I was going to be in for one bumpy ride at lunch and at the Host Club.

Still, I wasn't even sure with myself anymore. I decided that I needed to think about something else, and my question from earlier popped into my head: What _did_ happen with Hikaru and Haruhi? Hikaru certainly wasn't going to tell me anything, so it was up to Haruhi.

* * *

Lunch couldn't come soon enough. Haruhi always ate in the classroom, so as soon as I got my own meal, I made a beeline back to the classroom, praying to god Hikaru wasn't going to pop out. Instead, I received someone I was quite familiar with nowadays.

"Nekezowa, a pleasure to see you," I greeted, before he could spook me. My tone was probably impatient, but I didn't care. I had to talk to Haruhi, so I decided to get right down to business. "What words of wisdom do you have for me today, Yoda?"

He and Belzenef looked puzzled at my Star Wars reference, but Nekezowa told me, "I heard your sister offered you the chance to forget your plan."

"Well, yeah, but-"

He cut me off by asking me out of the blue, "Doesn't he deserve to know?"

I looked to the door, impatient and confused. "What are you talking about?" But by the time I turned back to where he was standing just a moment ago, he was gone without a trace. Seriously, how did he do that?

I shook my head, finally being able to open the door and eat lunch. Sure enough, Haruhi was there, nibbling away at what looked like leftovers. I smiled, taking the seat next to her and greeting, "Hello, Haruhi."

She looked slightly surprised to see me. "Hi Takara. Don't you usually eat lunch in the cafeteria?"

"Yeah," I began to play around with my food, deciding not to dive right into the apparently touchy subject of what happened Saturday, and told her, "But it was a little loud for my taste. Are those leftovers?"

"Yes, I cooked it last night though for my dad and me, so it's still good."

I raised a brow. "You eat with your parents? Every night?" The idea was so foreign to me… I barely saw my parents once a month. One of the reasons I was a tomboy was to become stronger, so I wouldn't get sad all the time when they left.

"Actually, just my dad. My mother passed away when I was younger."

I was genuinely saddened, but I knew Haruhi wasn't the type of girl who wanted pity, so instead I simply told her, "She would be proud to know you got into an amazing school like Ouran."

"Thank you."

We ate in silence for a few minutes, allowing the air to grow peaceful. I actually enjoyed getting to know Haruhi a little better. She seemed like the kind of girl I might like as a friend, and I still hadn't been in the Host Club long enough to know all about the hosts. Finally, after finishing at least half my lunch, I casually slipped in, "So, I was kind of hoping to ask you a question…"

"Go ahead."

"Well, Hikaru won't tell me, and I'm just curious, but… what did you two do on Saturday?"

There was silence, and I stopped eating and looked over to Haruhi, who had a sad, faraway look in her eyes. She took a silent bite, swallowing, and mumbled, "We talked a bit."

I hoped I wasn't pushing it as I asked, "About what?"

She sighed, obviously hesitant. "Well…" She took another deep breath, then turned to face me and explained, "It turns out that Hikaru has liked me for awhile now, and he told me on Saturday. He also said that he knew that I liked Tamaki, and told me to think about whether or not I like him back. I… just left after that, and he hasn't talked to me since then. He kept passing notes to me though about thinking that I should ask Tamaki out, and…"

"You're confused as to what he's trying to do and what you should do yourself," I finished, slightly stunned that she would spill something like that to me. Perhaps she just had to get it off her chest.

She cocked her head to the side, asking, "Actually, I am confused. How did you know?"

I smiled sadly, telling her, "I'm in a bit of a confusing situation myself." Before she might ask for more details, I quickly added, "But I think I get what Hikaru is trying to do. See, he thinks you like Tamaki, so he's trying to set you two up to try and get you to both be happy, but at the same time, he's possessive and jealous, so of course he's going to want you to say yes to him, but he keeps telling himself the inevitable is going to happen; or, at least, what he thinks the inevitable is. I wouldn't be surprised if he acts quite moodily until you tell him that you like him, or if you like Tamaki, then he'll cheer up once he gets over it, which will probably take some time since you're his-… _probably_ his first love, and all that." I was thankful for the save, realizing I was about to completely give away that I knew him.

Haruhi still looked baffled, joking, "Wow, sounds like you two have met before."

I knew she was joking, but honestly, I still freaked out. I laughed nervously, "Heh, my guess is as good as yours…" She didn't look convinced, so I just reassured her, "Look, I know that all this love business is confusing, but I think the important thing for you to do right now is found out who you really love, because I've seen the way you look at both of them, and there is no denying that you have at least a crush on both boys."

Haruhi simply nodded, replying, "I just… don't know what to do. I've always thought of both of them as my friend. To think that I may love one of them is just so… strange."

I looked at her smiling. "You really don't want anything to change, do you?"

"In a way." She smiled a little, the bell ringing and signaling that class was back in session. I made my way to my seat after saying a quick "see you later" to Haruhi, and immediately began wondering.

Now that the story was revealing itself, it needed a happy ending. The only problem was, how could both boys be happy, when they've lost someone they love? It was like how I was with writing love triangles. I always felt guilty when a character didn't get the boy or girl, so I'd have to create a new love, just for them. I suppose that's how real life worked as well. Love hurts you, and yet you just get back out there and fall in love again.

Great, that only reminded me of my previous problem. I dared to glance at the clock, revealing how long until I would have no choice but to face Kaoru at the Host Club. This day wouldn't be over soon enough.

* * *

The second I opened the club doors, I was greeted with what looked to be a fantasy garden. "Ah, Takara, you're here," Tamaki greeted, wearing some male fairy attire, his wings a delicate white/cream, a crown on his head.

"Let me guess," I muttered sarcastically, "You're the prince of fairies."

"Yes! Oh, how sharp my second daughter is!" Without another word, he glomped me, spreading glitter from his wings everywhere, causing me to choke.

Kaoru came up beside him, his wings orange, yelling, "Oi, tono, stop choking my toy to death!" Hikaru was standing next to him, with wings of blue, an amused look on his face, although there was still some moodiness from Saturday.

"WAH! I'm choking her?" He immediately let go, so I could try to breathe again. I laughed a little at his expression.

I explained, "It's the glitter. I think some of it went down my throat…"

"EEK! My daughter has swallowed glitter! MOMMY!" I watched as Kyoya walked from around a rose bush, his wings purple.

He walked up to me, his clipboard under his arm. He looked me over, asking, "Are you feeling fine, Takara? Do you need a glass of water?" He obviously didn't see any danger, or think of me as a threat to sue, as his tone was calm and slightly bored.

"Fine, thanks." I watched as the rest of the hosts made their way towards me, Hunny sitting on Mori's shoulders, whose wings were a deep blue, almost black, and Hunny looked adorable with his pink wings. Haruhi stood a little ways off, her wings red, and her dress and tights made her look cute. "Wait a minute…" I pondered for a bit, finally asking, "All your wings are the color of your rose, right?"

"OH! Look at how smart our second daughter is! My little prodigy!" Tamaki once again attempted to squeeze the life out of me, only letting go when he noticed the glare Kaoru sent his way. Could he be… jealous…?

Kyoya told me, "You're correct. I suppose we need to find out what color we should assign to you."

Haruhi mumbled, "Are there any colors left?"

Hunny frowned, adding, "Haruhi's right! The only color I can think of is black, and that's not Takara at all!"

"Why?" They all seemed surprised at my look of confusion, and I realized they had no clue as to my tomboy days, or the fact that I was out for revenge, so I quickly added, bluffing, "-Not brown?"

"Ne, that doesn't fit you either, Taka," Kaoru told me, leaning his elbow on my shoulder, Hikaru doing the same to my other. I couldn't help but notice how close Kaoru's face was to mine… Still, he had seemed to get over the awkwardness, so I was determined to do the same.

Hikaru whispered in my ear, "Kaoru told me what happened." Crap.

"Haruhi told me what happened," I told him, silencing him. I added, a slight smile on my face, "Don't worry, I'm rooting for you."

He looked almost confused, but wasn't able to say what he was about to as Hunny asked, "Why not green?"

Tamaki thought for a bit, but waved the thought away with his hand, "Green is too dark for my little daughter."

"Actually," I told him, remembering I had borrowed Misa's colored pencils for a project, immediately reaching for them in my bag and a sheet of paper, the twins stepping aside as I pulled out the box and paper. "There are varying shades of green. There's lime green, spring green, even blue-green…"

The hosts gathered around the huge box of colored pencils that Misa had collected over the years. Hey, she was an artist; of course she would have a tin case that weighed two pounds filled with colors. I grabbed a handful of greens, testing each one out on the sheet of paper. "I like this one," Kaoru told me, pointing to the spring bud green, "It's kind of girly and pretty, but not too much, because it's still green, like you." After realizing he had just called me pretty, both of us blushed, the hosts exchanging confused looks, except for Hikaru.

"Then it's decided! My second daughter's rose color shall be spring bud green!" Tamaki announced, proud.

I simply looked at all the hosts, nodding and mumbling an agreement. Kyoya whipped out his cell phone, ordering a costume, and told me to wait in the dressing room, and that Kaoru would bring it to me when it came. Kaoru simply nodded. Did he do that on purpose?

I ignored it, making my way to the dressing room stall. I let the curtain fall in place behind me, and turned around to find a full-length mirror. Suddenly remembering the last time I was in a dressing room, my face went pink, my fingers automatically fingering the locket. I examined how it shined in the mirror. It really was beautiful, and I didn't normally wear much jewelry. Still, I wasn't deaf, and the rumors had spread like wildfire as to why I wore it all the time.

I sighed. If the gossip continued at this rate, people would be saying that I was engaged, or something. Before I could think of more possibilities, I heard Kaoru's voice outside the stall, telling me, "Taka, I have the costume! Can I come in?"

As I pulled aside the curtain, Kaoru was standing there, holding a huge box, his amber eyes shining. I always loved his eyes. They reminded me of a sly cat's, and always had an understanding twinkle to them, not to mention the exotic color. I nodded, mumbling as I took the box from him, "What's with the new nickname?"

"Like it?" There was that signature smirk I had come to love, and then hate, and now somewhat hate and love at the same time. He explained, "Your name is kinda long, so I just thought you could use a nickname. I think it's cute." This time, a goofy, sincere, and cute grin was plastered on his face, his eyes lighting up.

All I could do was smile. "You're really that lazy?"

Kaoru sweat-dropped as I completely killed the mood. "Not really," he told me sheepishly, "I just thought it was cute…"

"See you when I'm officially Tinkerbell's cousin," I muttered, sliding the curtain back into place. It seemed that he was less awkward than me, as if he had already figured all his feelings out. Of course, he had the easy part. I'm the one who's supposed to hate him.

The costume actually did resemble Tinkerbell's dress, but with a belt of deep emerald music notes. I tied my hair into two low pigtails, coming in front of my body, with two mint green ribbons twirling around them. I also had mint lace arm warmers, and a wreath of ivy to sit on top of my hair like a crown. The shoes were emerald flats, with mint lace up ribbons coming to my knee, where the dress just stopped. My wings looked like they were designed by Disney, and spring bud.

And just wait till you hear what kind of viola they gave me! The bow was fashioned to look like a wand, and the viola was white, decorated with flowers. It was probably going to be next to impossible to play, but before I tested it out, I had to show the others. I gently took it out of the box, bow in one hand, instrument in the other, and slid the curtain away, going down the hallway, and into the clubroom, seeing the other hosts getting into position.

Kaoru and I seemed to freeze as we stared at each other. He had changed. And no, I don't mean his hair was blond, or he was suddenly acting like Kyoya; he had changed clothing, into a waiter's outfit, and let me tell you: it was practically handmade for him.

I could tell he was staring at me as well. I won't deny that the dress was flattering, but I think he was the only one who continued to look at me after the first thirty seconds. And I had to admit, I was the only one staring at him after the first thirty seconds. Finally, Hikaru coughed, the others still confused, and explained, "Tono said we needed a server, and Kaoru volunteered. I can't believe that thing still fits him from last year's cherry blossom viewing…"

Oh, it definitely fit well. I gulped, nodding, and trying to cover the blush that was growing on my cheeks as we broke eye contact, all the hosts staring at us. "Now then, positions!" Tamaki cheered, all of them getting into their usual position.

"Umm…" They all turned toward me, seeing that I hadn't moved. "I'm not exactly sure where I fit into all of this…"

Tamaki waved me over, gushing, "Stand by your daddy! In front of Kyoya!"

I followed orders, quickly realizing that once again, I was forced to be right next to Kaoru. Before I could even mentally gripe about it, though, the door was opened, a group of ladies walking in, and all the hosts said in synchronization, "Welcome." I didn't get the memo, so I just stood there, smiling like an idiot.

Girls came pouring in, and wasted no time getting to their appointments. I just started playing, strolling around, and watching the hosts do their thing. Apparently, being a server gave Kaoru an advantage when he was at Hikaru's table, because now their brotherly love between a fairy and human was, quote the fangirls: Ultra kawaii taboo!

I decided to ignore all this, and took a break by sitting on a stone bench. Now that I could listen to the conversations, I could take a really good listen as to the rumors. As I said before, that at the rate they were growing, people would soon be saying I was engaged. That was an understatement. In real life, things were much worse.

"I see Takara is still wearing that locket…"

"Since when did she get a rose color?"

"Maybe she's married."

"I bet she's pregnant."

"Who does she think she is?"

Listening to the whispers and murmurs, all centered on me, was when I started to crack. That's when I realized that I didn't belong. All those painful years had built up, and were now ready to burst out. Without another thought, I took off, running into the rose maze, ignoring the growing murmurs of why I was running, and a shout, along with Tamaki saying, "Let him go after her alone."

I ran through the maze, making random twists and turns, my mind racing. I didn't belong in the Host Club. I didn't belong at Ouran. I didn't belong in the twin's world. I didn't belong anywhere when I was Seiko. And now, I didn't belong as Takara. No matter what I did, what I said, I just didn't fit in anywhere. The only reason Kaoru probably accepted me was because I barged into his and his brother's world. He probably thought I was just like all those other girls. He probably doesn't even really like me.

Tears were now streaming down my face as I came to the center of the maze, where a fountain stood.

My bow and viola were still on the stone bench, so I sat on the edge of the stone fountain with a rose in the center and sobbed into both of my hands.

"Takara!" I froze, lifting my head out of my hands.

"Takara!" There it was again. I didn't want him to see me like this, so weak and worthless. I didn't want anyone to find me, not for a long time.

Just a second later, a pale waiter with ginger hair and beautiful amber eyes skidded to a stop where I had entered the clearing, out of breath and scared.

_He barged into my sad little world._

He seemed relieved when he spotted me, my eyes automatically darting to the ground. "There you are! You really worried me when you just took off running like that."

_He belonged here._

I didn't dare look up, fearing that there would be a disgusted look on his face, one that my parents would've given me when I was Seiko.

_He didn't need to change to shine in his parents' and friends' eyes._

He walked closer to me, inspecting my face closer as he kneeled in front of me, my eyes avoiding contact. "Have you been… crying?"

_He was accepted._

"No," I lied, the tough tomboyish Seiko inside me kicking in. I wasn't used to somebody being worried about me, and I wasn't quite sure what to do. A stray tear slid down my cheek, and he wiped it away gently with his thumb.

When I dared to look at him, he had a sad, half smile on his face, muttering, "You were always really bad at lying." _I'm better than you think I am_, I thought.

_He would always carry around the sunny and devilish Kaoru wherever he went._

He sat down beside me, explaining, "You don't have to be strong all the time, Takara." Without another word, he pulled me into his arms, close to his chest. My heart skipped a beat, before I suddenly burst into tears, all those painful memories and rumors coming back to me.

_He was the one I was supposed to hate._

At first, he seemed hesitant, as if he wasn't quite sure what to do, but he soon squeezed me tighter, letting me cry, saying those magic words: "It's okay. Everything's going to be fine." If anyone else had said that, I would've pulled away immediately and wiped my tears myself. But with Kaoru, I could just cry, letting him try to comfort me.

_But instead…_

Once my crying had stopped, he told me, "It's fine; I'm here." He gently lifted my chin with one hand to face him, and looked me straight in the eyes, before pressing my lips against his in a sweet kiss.

_I was utterly in love with him._

When we pulled away, I let myself snuggle into his arms, a comfortable silence settling in. "Now tell me, why were you crying?"

This time, I didn't hold back, "The rumors."

"You can't let those girls get to you. They're just jealous that it's so obvious that I'm in love with you." I could practically feel his blush at the mentioned words, but I only enjoyed the warmth of his body. I truly felt safe.

And for a second, life was perfect. But in just another second, I could hear Nekezowa's words: "Doesn't he deserve to know?"

Kaoru did deserve to know. He deserved to know why I wasn't accepted. He deserved to know the real reason I was crying. He deserved to know the truth. He deserved better than me.

I asked, "Does that offer to be your date to the dance still stand?"

"Of course. Why?"

I took a deep breath. There was no turning back now. "I have something to tell you after it."

He chuckled, "Why can't you tell me now?"

Because I didn't want this to end. I didn't want him to hate me. I didn't want to ruin everything. Instead, I just snuggled deeper into his arms, mumbling, "It can wait." I enjoyed this precious moment while it lasted, because I knew that in less than two weeks, my life would be miserable.

* * *

**Disclaimer: Bisco Hatori owns OHSHC.**

**Holy cheese. I'm really close to the last two chapters. I've been planning them out in my head for some time now, and it's going to be awesome.**

**Also, more revealed as to why Takara was a tomboy and such. So sad. -sniffle- :'( I actually started tearing up while writing this. Wow, I'm pathetic. :/**

**Anyways, enjoy and review!  
**


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

I subconsciously nestled deeper into my bed, dreaming about the day I won a Pulitzer for a novel, and I had married a successful fashion designer… until my phone rang.

"Ugh," I groaned, "Who in the world isn't letting me enjoy my Saturday?"

My hand traveled across the bedside table, searching for my phone. I listened to the specially set ringtone: "We'll write a song! That turns back the night! When both boy and girl start suddenly shaking inside. Don't waste your time! Speed up your breathing! Just close your eyes! We'll hope it's not for nothing at all."

My eyes widened, and I hopped right out of bed, wide-awake and searching for my phone at the speed of light. The second I found it I flipped it open, took a deep breath to recover from the hardcore search, and answered, "Hey Kaoru, what's up?"

"Good morning!" He told me happily, "Tono's planning a weekend getaway to the lake for the Host Club for some 'family bonding'."

"…And…?"

"That includes you! Oh, and Kyouya said Misa could come, too," he explained. "So pack your bags really quick! We'll be over in two hours."

My voice dripped with sarcasm, "Gee, thanks for the heads-up. I can see you didn't want this to be last minute…"

"Aw, c'mon Taka! Just make sure you're ready! It's gonna be awesome!" Without another word he hung up, leaving me to sigh.

I looked over at my alarm clock, and sweat-dropped. It was barely eight in the morning. I made my way down the hall in a gray T-shirt and black soffe shorts. Slowly, I opened Misa's door a crack, peering in and feeling like a creeper.

"Misa," I whispered, watching the lump in her bed move around. "Misa…"

She mumbled something in her sleep, and I rolled my eyes. If Misa didn't wake up when you whispered, then you could only wake her up the good 'ol fashioned way. I tiptoed over to her bed, then, very gently, stepped onto it.

Misa mumbled once more, rolling over so she was on the opposite edge of her bed. I took a deep breath, and then, "MISA! GET UP!" I jumped on her bed as high as I could go, almost touching the ceiling.

I watched, amused, as she began to open her eyes, and then widen them, as she rolled off her bed. "Whoa!" She landed with a thud on the floor, and I stopped bouncing to help her up, Misa rubbing her head. She glared, asking, "When was the last time you had to wake me up like that? And it's only eight!"

I explained, "Kaoru just called. The Host Club is going to the lake for the weekend to do some bonding, and you're coming with us."

Misa yawned. "Okay, sure." I followed her down to the kitchen, both of us asking for bowls of cereal from our maids. As she sat down and took a bite, she asked me, "So, when are they coming?"

"Two hours." Milk and cereal went flying everywhere as Misa did a spit take, me trying to dodge.

She wiped her mouth, her eyes wide as her bowl. "What?"

"I only thought that happened in cartoons," I muttered, observing the milk and cereal bits scattered across the edge of the table and floor. I could hear a few maids grumbling about having to clean up after us.

"That's it, no more time to waste!" Misa grabbed my wrist, yanking me back up the stairs to our rooms, yelling, "Pack everything and anything you think you'll need! God, I should've flirted this out of Kyouya along with the ball…"

I could only freeze as Misa opened her bedroom door. "Wait…" Misa turned back to look at me, obviously impatient. "You _flirt_ with _Kyouya Ootori_?"

My usually confident older sister suddenly grew flustered, playing with her hair, shuffling her feet, and looking at the ground, stuttering, "I-I wouldn't say _flirt_ so much as… t-trying to strike up a fr-friendly conversation with him every once in a wh-while…"

I watched her for a minute, and realizing she would never admit it, sighed, "Never mind," and continued down the hall to my own room to pack and get ready.

Packing anything I thought I would need for a weekend at the lake, and changing into a tank top and shorts for the warming weather, I watched from my window as a limo pulled up. I called Misa from her room, both of us running out the door with our bags, the chaffeur taking our luggage and opening the doors so I could slide in next to Kaoru, Misa sitting next to Kyouya.

"So, where are we going?" Misa asked Kyouya, trying to sneak a peek as to what he was writing.

He snapped the black notebook shut, telling her smoothly, "A private lake in the mountains owned by my family. It was to be a peaceful recovery center, but instead turned into the family lake house after we bought out a better location."

"It's beautiful!" Tamaki cooed, "With glistening water, a cozy log cottage, the serenity of the mountains..."

"Mosquitoes," Haruhi deadpanned, causing Tamaki to sulk. She was sitting across from the blond, Hikaru on one side, Hunny on the other.

Hunny added, Mori nodding across from him, "And there's lots of cake, too!"

Kyouya added as the limo began to climb up a mountainside road, "We'll all have a few group activities, but for the most part we'll be on our own, using the buddy system if we want do something outdoors, just for extra safety."

"Takara's my partner!" Kaoru exclaimed, pulling me closer to him, a grin on his face. I blushed at the others stares, and then sudden 'oh's and knowing nods. When I glanced over to Misa, she looked concerned, and so I just gave her a small smile, as if to prove I had everything under control.

Tamaki dramatically announced, "Well then, I should be paired up with my daughter!"

Hikaru turned moody, looking at the floor. It must've been hard for him. "Actually," Haruhi interrupted, looking at the redhead, "I was going to ask Hikaru to be my partner."

Tamaki's mouth hit the floor. "Wh-wh-what?"

"Really?" Hikaru asked, his blush as red as a tomato, his eyes wide in shock.

Haruhi shrugged, smiling. "Why not?"

Tamaki turned to Kyouya beside him, whining, "Mother! Haruhi can't be near that bad influence!"

"Hey! I'm not a bad influence, tono!"

Kyouya adjusted his glasses, coolly explaining, "I can't control who Haruhi chooses. I suggest you get over it, seeing as how we'll be arriving at the lake shortly."

"Okay, then I'll be your partner, Kyouya!"

Misa nonchalantly examined her nails, hissing, "I'm sure the girls would love to hear about all the yaoi situations you two got yourselves into..." We all widened our eyes. Misa was threatening Tamaki...because he had chosen _Kyouya_ as a partner.

If Kyouya was shocked, he did a good job of hiding it, nonchalantly asking, "I suppose you would want to be my partner then, Misa?"

She simply looked out her window, mumbling, "Might as well..."

Tamaki pouted. "But that means I'm alone!" he complained.

Hunny cheered, "You can be with me and Takashi!"

"Yeah."

"Very well!" Tamaki cheered up again, proclaiming, "Once we all set up! We'll go swimming!" And as if the limo had been listening, it stopped, arriving at our destination, the chauffeur opening the doors and letting us out, and also handing us our bags.

I looked around, Misa doing the same next to me, letting out a long, slow whistle. "Hollywood couldn't make this place anymore gorgeous," Misa muttered. She was right on the money. The lake glistened in front of us, blue and clean, a narrow strip of sand serving as the shore, and then turned into grass again, a stone path and cement driveway leading up to a single and huge log cabin set up on the opposite side on a small hill. All around us, were surrounded by trees, the smell of pine in the air, a gravel road showing the way back to the outside world, if anyone would actually ever want to leave this place. In the distance, besides the clear blue sky above us, were the mountains, the very tips forever covered in snow.

Kyouya started leading us up the drive, explaining, "We'll be sharing rooms. All the girls will be in one room, while the boys will have to split up."

Misa rolled her eyes, complaining, "I think we all know who's going to pair with who, Kyouya."

Hikaru slightly scowled. "How are you so sure? You barely visit the club," he asked.

Misa rolled her eyes once more, and I smirked, knowing what was coming next. We had all stopped in front of the door, and Misa pointed to each pair as she said it out loud, "Hikaru and Kaoru: no duh. Mori and Hunny: also no duh. And Kyouya and Tamaki: Can anyone say obvious?"

"Misa's actually very analytic. She can figure this kind of stuff out in a snap," I explained. Kyouya simply opened the door without another word, revealing a huge mansion, and a long line of maids and servants greeting us. I took a peek as we stepped inside, allowing a maid to take my luggage for me and carry it to our room.

The place was nice, no doubt about that. Wooden floors, wood paneling on the walls, and a wooden ceiling really gave it that cabin feeling. When I looked towards Misa, who was trying hard to act nonchalant, she simply muttered, "This place is the biggest fire hazard I've ever seen."

I rolled my eyes, allowing myself to enjoy it. The living room was to our right, and looked cozy. To our left was a small eating area, beyond that the kitchen, were a small group of chefs were cleaning and organizing. We had come just an hour before lunch, and it was clear by the hustle and bustle that the cooking staff was preparing our meal.

Tamaki told us as we all made our way up the (you guessed it: wooden) stairs, "We should all get settled in as quickly as possible! Then change into your swimsuits and meet downstairs so we can go swimming! And I've asked the chefs to bring out our lunch to the lake for a big family picnic!"

We continued down the hall, splitting up into groups, maids showing us to our rooms. As the others continued to walk ahead, I soon realized that Haruhi had stopped, her mouth wide open, her suitcase next to her. "Something wrong?" I asked.

"It's just," Haruhi gestured to the whole cabin, asking, "Isn't this all just a little elaborate for a weekend at the lake? The nicest cabin I've ever been to had only one floor, and barely any furniture."

I cocked my head to the side, Haruhi's commoner way of living foreign to me. "Well, maybe to you it's a little extravagant, but this is actually rather quaint compared to what my father would've built. Of course, he owns a chain of hotels, so he likes to go over the top with architecture."

Haruhi simply shook her head, mumbling, "It's still too fancy."

I laughed, offering to help her with her suitcase, wondering why she didn't let the maids take it for her. We caught up with Misa and the maid who would lead us to our room, admiring the hallways filled with paintings and doors hiding rooms that we may never see.

"Here we are." The three of us came to a stop as our maid opened a door at the end of the hallway, revealing what looked like nothing short of a hotel suit with three twin beds. She watched as we made our way inside, calling after us, "Please do enjoy your time here."

I let out a long, low whistle. "I swear, for a second there I thought she was an employee showing us one of Dad's new hotel rooms…"

"It'll do," Misa muttered, already picking up her suitcase, which had been set up next to the bathroom door, just a few feet away from the front door. She claimed the bed closest to the door, Haruhi taking the bed in the middle, both of them digging around to find their swimsuits. I grabbed my suitcase and made my way to the bed closest to the window, which gave me a beautiful view of the woods and mountains beyond them.

Misa changed first, and came out of the bathroom wearing her red and gold bikini that she typically wore when trying to impress a boy. I raised a brow, Haruhi making her way to the bathroom, asking mischievously, "Are you trying to seduce a certain Kyouya Ootori? Really, what is going on between you two?"

I laughed as she turned bright red all the way up to her hairline, snapping, "Nothing, I just packed in a hurry, and this was the first swimsuit I grabbed!"

"_Riiight_," I mumbled sarcastically, "That's exactly it."

Before she could snap at me again, Haruhi came out of the bathroom, wearing a cute pink one piece with a white skirt and a matching pink swim cap, practically glowing. (1) "What?" she asked, after seeing how wide Misa and my eyes were.

Misa gestured to the girly swimsuit, mumbling, "I didn't think you had it in you, Haruhi. I mean, you wear the newest version of the girl's uniform with the black skirt at school, but I didn't think you wore anything like that outside of school…"

"My dad buys me these kinds of clothes all the time," she sighed. "And he must've repacked my bags right before I left and found this laying around."

"Well, my turn." I made my way to the bathroom, locking the door behind me and changing into a sky blue bikini. Once we had all grabbed our towels, we made our way down the hall and down the stairs to the door, and found that the boys were already waiting by the lake. I yelled out, "Why haven't you gone in yet?"

"We don't know if it's cold or not," Tamaki whined as we got closer. He also shut up when he saw Haruhi in her swimsuit and turned tomato red. "Shouldn't you be covered up?"

"This is 'swimming', tono," the twins rolled their eyes, "Not 'sitting by the lake in a sweatshirt and shorts'."

I simply ignored the argument that was heating up between the three, and walked up to the water, swishing my hand around and apparently catching Tamaki and the twins' attention. "Feels fine to me," I shrugged. After they stared at me for a minute, I added in a slightly dubious tone, "What, none of you thought of doing that?"

The twins piped up, "We were going to push Tamaki in."

"Mommy! Punish these doppelgangers for being such a bad influence on my daughters!"

Ignoring the blond idiot, Haruhi, Misa and I made out way into the water, beginning to swim out and into the surprisingly clean lake. Hunny and Mori followed us, Hunny using a pink inner tube. After finally realizing that we had all gotten in, the twins dived in, splashing Tamaki, so that he jumped in and swam after them, yelling something about their immaturity.

Almost on instinct I rolled my eyes, treading water. Misa was beside me, and was staring intently at the shore, where Kyoya was sitting at a patio table set up, jotting something in his clipboard and apparently waiting for the food to arrive. She muttered, "He needs to let loose sometimes."

"Come to think of it, I've never seen Kyouya swim," Haruhi commented.

"That's it! He's going to get in this lake and have some fun already!" Misa was already making her way back on dry land, picking up a towel and drying herself off, confronting Kyouya. I couldn't hear what they were saying, but from the looks of it, Misa was losing.

Haruhi looked to me, saying bluntly, "Misa likes Kyouya, doesn't she?"

"That's a fact. I just didn't think it was possible."

"Why?"

"Well, Misa hates uptight people. She can't stand anyone who takes things way too seriously. That and I gu-AH!" I was being lifted out of the water from behind, somebody taller managing to stand up in the water, as Haruhi and I had drifted towards the shore and into shallower waters.

Just as I was really struggling and yelling and protesting, a sickly sweet voice made its way to my ears, cooing, "Have fun with your flight." And before I knew it, I was being tossed into the air, landing with a huge splash a few yards away. As I resurfaced, fuming mad, I saw that a similar fate was in store for Haruhi, and watched as Hikaru tossed her in the air, Haruhi landing beside me.

We simply nodded at each other, understanding what needed to be done. As we made our way closer to the twins, Haruhi heading towards Hikaru while I headed towards Kaoru, I could see just how smug and playful they looked. They didn't even move when we came up to them, just smirked. Haruhi and I exchanged a glance, looked back at the twin who had thrown us, and at the same time, bopped them on the back of the head with all our might, yelling, "Never do that again!"

Hikaru and Kaoru rubbed the back of their heads, Kaoru pulling me into a hug from behind, making me melt on the inside, soothing, "Aw, come on, Takara. We were just trying to have some fun."

Trying my best not to seem like I was completely enjoying how he was holding me, I argued, "That was anything but fun." As if he knew just how to make me shut up, he rested his chin softly on my head, making me lose my fighting spirit.

Haruhi, however, was still arguing with Hikaru, and they had drawn all of our attention. "What was that for?" Hikaru snapped at her.

"For throwing me into the air and trying to kill me."

"I was trying to help you have fun."

"By giving me a heart attack? God, you're such a moron sometimes, Hikaru!"

"What are you calling me a moron for? Just relax already Haruhi!"

Tamaki had stepped in between the two, apparently guarding Haruhi. "Don't snap at her! You scared her to pieces!" he argued.

Haruhi sent Tamaki a glare, muttering, "He didn't 'scare met to pieces', Tamaki. And I don't need you protecting."

At this, Tamaki was sent to a corner on the shore, drawing pictures in the sand, Hunny and Mori trying to cheer him up.

"You know what? Forget it," Hikaru huffed, getting out of the water. "I was just trying to have fun with you, and you completely ruined it, Haruhi!"

At this, Haruhi's face fell a little. She mumbled, "Hikaru, I…"

"Just forget it! Have fun with Tamaki!" he cut her off, grabbing a towel and drying himself off as he walked towards the mansion. "I'll be in my room."

Misa called after him, "Don't you want to at least eat lunch?"

"Not hungry!"

All of us fell silent as Haruhi stared after him, an awkward silence and tension in the air. Suddenly, she grew slightly angry, muttering, "I don't get what he's so upset about. He scared me with that stupid prank and he won't apologize. What am I to blame for?" She stomped out of the water, drying herself off and seating herself at a table as several maids made their way towards us with plates filled with food.

Kaoru kept staring after Hikaru, so I pulled away, asking, "You handle Hikaru and I calm down Haruhi?"

"Sounds like a plan." His smile made me melt again, and I couldn't help but smile back. I made my way out of the water, and after drying off I sat down next to Haruhi.

It was obvious that she was ticked off, but I had to calm her down somehow. Haruhi, sensing my staring, muttered between bites of food, "You aren't going to get me to forgive him until Hikaru apologizes."

I smiled back at her, nonchalantly replying while grabbing a plate of food myself, "That's not why you're angry, though."

She stopped eating, staring at me. She asked simply, "What do you mean?"

"Well, in my opinion, it seems like you're only angry because you're telling yourself that you should be angry, not because you really are. In reality, you're upset that Hikaru is mad at you, aren't you?"

Before she could respond, Tamaki plopped himself down next to Haruhi, beaming, "I'm going to sit next to my daughter!"

"Go away Tamaki," Haruhi snapped at him, especially bitter. He whimpered, and was once again sent to his corner, but we ignored it.

I commented, "Seems like you're mad at Tamaki. He made Hikaru more upset, right?"

"I'm simply mad at him because he stepped in and thought I couldn't fight my own battle."

"You're kind of dense, you know that?" At her confused stare, I sighed, spelling it out for her, "You're worried sick about Hikaru, you're mad that Tamaki made him more upset, and I bet what happened that weekend when Hikaru confessed is still on your mind. Face it, Haruhi, you're in love with Hikaru."

"No I'm not," she snapped. "We're just friends."

"Then why did Hikaru confess that he likes you? Why did he get so upset when Tamaki stood up for you? Why did you look so sad when he left? Why-"

"Okay, okay!" She rubbed her temples, muttering, "I see your point. But still, I know I'm not in love with him."

I raised an eyebrow. "Oh, so you want to go out with Tamaki?"

"No! Absolutely not!"

"Would you go out with Mori?"

"No."

"How about Kyoya?"

"Not in this lifetime."

"Hunny?"

"No."

"Hikaru?"

Before she knew the words were coming out of her mouth, caught up in the moment, she replied, "Maybe." She clamped her hand over her mouth, a blush creeping over her cheeks.

Smug that my trick had worked, I simply told her, "So out of all the hosts, the only one you can think of in a romantic way is Hikaru. Doesn't that tell you something?"

Haruhi stuttered, "I-I didn't know wh-what I was saying…"

Figuring that she would never give in, at least not now, I sighed, pleading, "At least apologize to him."

"For what?" she snapped, stubborn. "I didn't do anything wrong."

"Apologize for overreacting. You know Hikaru is still moody from when he confessed, and none of us are going to sit through a weekend of you two ignoring each other."

Haruhi simply stared at her plate of food, as if contemplating the thought of actually apologizing. I looked around her, to find that Hikaru was making his way towards us, Kaoru following behind him. Haruhi followed my gaze, and stood up as Hikaru reached her. He muttered, rubbing his arm, "I'm sorry, Haruhi."

She stared at him for a moment, the air tense, before finally saying, "Apology accepted." I waited for her to continue, but seeing that she thought she was done, I elbowed her in the side, causing her to scowl at me and add, "And I'm sorry if I seemed harsh before."

Hikaru's face instantly cracked into a smirk. "Is Haruhi Fujioka admitting that she's harsh?"

"…Don't push it, Hikaru."

Kaoru came up beside me as the two began to bicker softly, whispering, "Hikaru still thinks that she likes Tamaki."

"She doesn't," I whispered back, "Haruhi likes Hikaru, but she won't admit it."

Kaoru sighed, sitting down beside my place at the table, muttering, "I swear, could anybody be more dense?"

I sat down next to him, my gaze instantly shooting towards Misa, who was sitting next to Kyouya, attempting to talk to him. "It's a possibility."

* * *

The rest of the day was fairly quiet, as I realized that I hadn't written anything for quite some time now. Once I was dried off and changed, I grabbed my notebook, a pencil, put on my flip-flops, and headed outside, not really sure where I was going.

Tamaki, Hunny, and Mori had all gone on a hike, saying that they would be back in time for dinner. Kyouya and Misa were reading in the living room, and from the look on Misa's face, I could tell she was ticked because she wanted to do something else. Hikaru and Haruhi were watching a movie in the basement home theater, and I giggled to myself as I remembered Hikaru's blush and Haruhi's obliviousness when Kaoru teased Hikaru about him pulling "the move" on Haruhi.

So where is Kaoru, you ask? I was wondering the same thing. After lunch, he kissed my forehead and disappeared to somewhere, telling me that we'd do something tomorrow morning before we had to leave. Which of course, leads up to now, as I searched for a spot to settle down and write in.

At first, I thought about the lake, but I figured that I might as well try to explore a little more while I was at it. I ventured into the forest behind the cabin, and found huge trees shooting into the air, creating a dense canopy, just speckles of sunlight coming through.

I decided to sit myself at the base of a tall and slender tree, with soft grass near its base. It looked perfect to climb, and I'm sure in middle school I would've loved to try and climbed it. But today, I just seated myself, my back against the tree, opened up my notebook, and tapped my pencil against the paper, trying to think of something to write. I hadn't written a poem lately, but I didn't have any inspiration.

And then it hit me.

No, not an idea. A falling note from above hit me lightly on the head and bounced off, landing on my blank page. I raised a brow, and cautiously picked it up, and began to read it.

_Dear Takara,_

_Meet me in the living room at sunset. I have a surprise for you! And put something nice on! ;)_

_Love,_

_Kaoru (a.k.a. the best boyfriend ever)_

I looked up quickly, twisting around to try and see if I could spot him up in the tree. All I saw was what I thought was the tiniest flash of ginger hair. I laughed a little to myself. Oh, he was good.

And then the idea hit me.

_Tricky and cunning._

_Eyes like a cat's,_

_Forever glowing with mischief._

_He is my little devil._

_Sweet and understanding._

_Breath sweet as honeysuckle,_

_Forever whispering the words I want to hear._

_He is my guardian angel._

_Mischievous and loving._

_Hair that defies gravity,_

_Forever bringing a smile to my face._

_He is my one true love._

_Individual and quirky._

_Embrace as warm as a fire,_

_Forever comforting me._

_He is my Kaoru._

I smiled at the poem, but it was bittersweet. I added one last line, at the very bottom of the page, as a small tear made its way down my cheek at the thought. I slammed the notebook shut, blinking back a few more tears. It was getting late, and I had to get ready for the surprise that Kaoru had planned for me. I had to enjoy this time with him and the Host Club.

_But not for long.

* * *

_

I waited, wearing a navy blue empire dress with white flats, my hair in a purposely-messy bun with two strands on either side of my face hanging.

Before I could let out an annoyed huff at Kaoru being late, two hands covered my eyes, followed by a voice purring, "Guess who."

"You're late."

"Ouch. That's no way to greet your boyfriend."

"Sorry, but you are. Now can you uncover my eyes?"

"Nope!" He began to walk forward, leading me towards the door, I assumed, causing me to trip and stumble clumsily.

I whined, "Kaoru, I'm going to fall on my face!"

He sniggered, "Don't worry, I would never let a lady fall."

"…Why is that not comforting?"

For at least ten more minutes, he lead me around, never even giving me a hint as to where we were going, chuckling as I stumbled every so often.

The terrain was beginning to get a little rough and uneven, so I assumed we were outside. "Please don't tell me you're going to push me in the lake."

"Maybe I will, or maybe I won't."

"…You're really enjoying this, aren't you?"

"You know me so well."

I sighed, letting him lead me. Soon, I felt tall, soft grass brushing up against my legs, and Kaoru came to a halt, causing me to stop as well. He told me, still covering my eyes with his hands, "Now then, what I'm about to show you is so amazing, that you may feel the need to throw your arms around my neck and kiss me passionately..."

I laughed, putting my hands over his, trying to get them to budge while ordering, "Just show it to me already!"

"Fine, fine… But I'm serious about the whole making out thing."

"Kaoru!"

"Ta-da!" He let me remove his hands, and I let my eyes widen and my mouth drop a bit, as I stared at the amazingly beautiful meadow he had led me to. "So, what do you think?"

I looked around, seeing the trees surrounding us, the soft grass underneath my feet, the flowers of all different colors scattered around. And right in the center of it all, was a picnic laid out for two. I turned to Kaoru, throwing my arms around him and whispering into his ear, "I love it."

"What about the kiss?"

I rolled my eyes, muttering, "You always know how to kill a mood, don't you?"

"I try."

We ate and laughed and watched the rest of the sunset before it got dark, when we had to head back.

"So, what are we doing in the morning?" I asked him, thinking back to what he said before.

He grinned, holding my hand as we walked up to the back door, "Working a little magic for Hikaru and Haruhi." He added, pulling out his best puppy dog eyes, asking, "You will help, right, Takara?"

I opened the door, answering, "Of course. And thanks again for the picnic. It was amazing." Realizing it was dark, I added, "We better head upstairs, looks like everyone else is already asleep."

"Right. And you're not mad at me about the whole 'throwing you up in the air' thing, right?"

"Actually, I-"

"Where have you two been?" My head snapped over to find that Tamaki was sitting in an armchair, and had just flicked a light on, wearing a red velvet robe, black pants, and black slippers, and glaring at mainly Kaoru.

I rolled my eyes, Kaoru muttering, "Didn't think he was this into the whole 'dad' thing, although it's not entirely unexpected."

Tamaki made his way over to me, asking with concern, "Are you all right, Takara? Did this devil hurt you in any way?"

Just as I was about to say no, an idea kicked into my head. I was still a little mad at Kaoru, after all… "Actually, Kaoru was very mean to me." I added in a sniffle for good effect, telling him sadly, "And he threatened me, too."

"WHAT?"

Kaoru looked over to me, whispering, "I did?"

"Of course you did. Now get away from me! Tamaki, help!" I ran away, trying to stifle a laugh as I climbed up the stairs, stopping to look down to see Tamaki's face red with anger and yelling his head off at Kaoru, grabbing his shirt collar and yanking him around.

Catching on quickly, he ignored the fuming blond, turning his head up to look at me, muttering, "Not cool."

I stuck my tongue out at him, then, realizing Tamaki was still mad, yelled, "Tamaki! He threatened me again! I'm scared!"

"STOP TRYING TO HURT MY PRECIOUS DAUGHTER, KAORU!"

I laughed as I made my way back to my room, quietly opening the door. Haruhi and Misa were sitting up in their beds, the lamp on the bedside table turned on. Misa asked, "Everything okay? I hear a lot of yelling downstairs…"

"Fine, just fine. So, Haruhi, you still mad at Hikaru?"

She blinked owlishly, looking like she wanted to get back to sleep. She answered quickly, already turning off the lamp, "Not really. Good night."

Misa made herself comfortable in her own bed, adding, "Sleep tight."

I sighed, grabbing my pajamas and staring at the two in the dark, "And for Pete's sake just let the stinking love bug bite."

"What was that?"

"Nothing."

* * *

**Disclaimer: i AinT OWNsss Owran but i owsns mi edumAcationn!1!**

**...At that was my pathetic stab at disclaimer humor...Moving on, then...**

**1) Same swimsuit from Episode 7. Yeah, I wasn't feeling creative. Sue me.**

**Well, by now you guys should know I'm not always the best with updates. Or staying true to how many chapters I have left...Now it's around 3 or 4 left, although the next one should be shortish. Sorry I can't give you an exact number, but we're almost done, guys...For now...Just wait till I change it again ^.^U...**

**Hope this satisfied! Sorry guys, but I'm starting school again, and I'm back to a hectic schedule. I'll try to update more often, I really do. And I have an old story that I'm dying to try and revive with a new chapter and end it soon. (Anybody here read Of Fangs and Fur? Yeah, that's the one I'm talking about...I'm afraid I let it wilt away in a corner...)**

**Until then, read and enjoy!  
**


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

My eyes fluttered open to see that the sun was just coming up over the horizon. I smiled, enjoying the sight, and yawned, sitting up in bed. Looking over to Misa and Haruhi, I realized that they were both still sleeping, and decided to enjoy the nice quiet lake all by myself.

I quickly got ready, throwing on a tank top, jean shorts, and flip-flops, my hair pulled into a sort of half-up-half-down hairdo. Moving with the stealth of a ninja, I quietly made my way out into the hall, slowly down the stairs, and into the living room, where servants were already bustling about, preparing for the day.

Before I could even let out another yawn, I felt hands slide around my waist, pulling me in closer as Kaoru purred, "Ready for Operation: HikaHaru?"

"HikaHaru? What, is that a nickname you made up for the couple?"

"Yes, and you know it's awesome."

I stuck out my tongue, muttering, "Whatever. So what's the plan?"

He leant down so his lips were close to my ear, his sweet breath tickling my neck. "I was hoping you would ask that."

* * *

"Hello, Tamaki," I chirped as I found him sitting by the lake, enjoying an incredibly large breakfast.

His head turned to face me, his violet eyes lighting up. "Ah, hello there Takara! Have you come to spend some father-daughter time with Daddy?"

Wishful thinking on his part. "Just wanted to chat with you. Everyone else is busy," I fibbed innocently with a smile, taking the seat across from him at the table. Why did I have to convince Tamaki while Kaoru got Haruhi? Maybe she would find it suspicious since I already managed to squeeze the fact that she might like Hikaru out of her.

"Wonderful! Ask away!" he cooed, looking out to the lake, a distant look in his eyes.

I smirked to myself, already picturing his reaction. "What would you do if I told you Haruhi was all alone with Hikaru in the basement, romantically sitting next to him, the lights dimmed, the door locked…?"

"WHERE IS HE? WHERE'S THAT LITTLE DEVIL?" Tamaki was hopping out of his chair, rage burning in every fiber of his being, as he looked all around, as if expecting Hikaru and Haruhi to just drop out of the sky at any second.

I rolled my eyes, soothing, "I was speaking hypothetically, but at least I know how you would react to the situation."

"Oh." He stared at me blankly, asking, concern clear in his voice, "So, Haruhi isn't with Hikaru right now?"

"I don't think she's even awake. Now sit down, I have a few more questions."

"Yes, of course, anything for one of my daughters." He composed himself, sitting down again and looking at me, concentrated.

"Wait, do you count Misa as a daughter?"

"…Why no, I don't… But I should, shouldn't I? Wah, I'm such a bad father!"

"Eh, no, I wouldn't ever call her that if I were you."

"Why?"

"…Just don't do it. Anyway, you think of Haruhi as a daughter?"

"Absolutely! She will always be special to me!"

"And nothing more than just a daughter?"

A small blush grew on his face. Tamaki stuttered, "Wh-what do you mean?"

"Oh, noting," I told him nonchalantly, standing up and brushing away the though with my hand, "Just forget I said anything."

That should do it. I kept walking for a minute, looking back at him only after I had given him plenty of space. Sure enough, Tamaki was pensive, his chin cupped in his hand, for once being still and looking mature. "Oh, and Tamaki!" I yelled, catching his attention and causing his head to snap up, disturbing his train of thought. "Haruhi said she wanted to speak to you in half an hour, near the forest."

There, part one of my side of the plan was complete. Now on to part two.

* * *

I wasn't quite sure how in the world Kaoru and I managed to drag Hikaru along with us towards where Haruhi and Tamaki were talking, but when we mentioned it was about Haruhi, we didn't have to drag him kicking and screaming anymore. More like leading him while he asked questions and pouted.

"Kaoru, just tell me what this has to do with Haruhi," he whined, not even trying to squeeze any more information out of me after the first five minutes.

As we finally began to reach the spot where we could see Haruhi and Tamaki talking, standing just a few feet into the forest, Kaoru replied, "See for yourself."

I could instantly see Hikaru go rigid as we let go of his wrists, his arms falling limply to his sides. His mouth was a thin, tight line, and his eyes were stone cold. "Why don't we listen?" I suggested, the three of us sneaking our way behind a tree, Hikaru doing more of a robotic waddle, just going through the motions. It was obvious this would be a love confession.

"So Haruhi," Tamaki chirped, chipper and perky as always, not a hint of shyness or embarrassment in his voice, "I'm glad that we've cleared this whole thing up! It's good to know that I haven't been leading my poor daughter on, thinking that Daddy might love her in a different way."

Well, that was new.

Peeking from behind the tree, I could only see their profiles, and Haruhi simply nodded, a small smile on her face, commenting bluntly, "I'm glad that's all over. I have more important things to do."

"But don't you want to spend more time with your father?" Tamaki pleaded, Haruhi already turning to walk away.

She deadpanned a no, sending Tamaki to whine after her. Kaoru and I exchanged a look, our plan totally screwed up now. Without a second glance, Kaoru quickly ran over to Tamaki, bubbling about something irrelevant that "needed his attention" and leading him away from Haruhi, Tamaki whining the entire time.

Following his lead, I stepped a little closer to Hikaru, who looked baffled and confused, staring after Haruhi. "So, I guess that proves that Haruhi really doesn't like Tamaki, and Tamaki doesn't like Haruhi that way either."

"…Yeah…"

Then, throwing subtlety out the window, I gave him a hard shove towards Haruhi's general direction, yelling, "Now get that confession out of her!"

The two collided and fell to the ground rather clumsily, both of them sitting up immediately and rubbing their heads. I quickly hid behind a different tree, silently smiling at Kaoru as he came up beside me moments later, then looking back at the two.

"Oh, Hikaru," Haruhi greeted dryly, as if she really wasn't too surprised. She stood up, brushing some dust off of her capris, and asked, "Was there something you wanted to do?"

"Oh, well…" Hikaru stuttered and fumbled with his words, getting up and averting his eyes from hers, a bright red blush covering his cheeks. "I-I just… wanted to make sure… that, you know… if you wanted to do anything."

I muttered sarcastically to Kaoru, who chuckled, "You're brother sure is one smooth operator."

"He can't help that he gets flustered around her and is such a big coward."

"True."

Haruhi blinked owlishly at him, never receiving any of the signals he was sending, instead telling him, "Oh, well I'm glad you ran into me. There was something I needed to tell you."

"Y-yeah? I-I mean yes?"

"…I think I'm in love with you, Hikaru."

My mouth fell open slightly. She did it. She had actually said it out loud. Sure, it was a little less than poetic, which was an understatement, but she had done it bluntly and truthfully, the Haruhi way.

Her cheeks were a light shade of pink, and she was smiling at Hikaru, who only blushed even more, not even managing to say anything.

"Well, I better get going-"

Hikaru grabbed her wrist, and pulled her close, Haruhi's eyes widening as his lips crashed into hers in a sudden burst of courage, Haruhi slowly closing her eyes as well and kissing back.

Not able to take my eyes off the scene, I asked Kaoru, "Should we be watching this? I feel like I'm intruding…"

He waved the thought away with his hand, explaining, "He's my twin, I can meddle in his privacy all I want."  
"Good point."  
Once they had pulled away, Hikaru blurted, "I love you too! And I want you to be my date to the Autumn Ball!"

Haruhi stared at him, her face blank, until she suddenly replied, subconsciously intertwining her fingers with his, "I accept. But what are we going to do before we leave?" And with that, the two disappeared, heading towards the mansion, holding hands and bickering lightly, the love in their eyes evident.

I stepped out from behind the tree, stretching the muscles that had began to cramp up from hiding. "Well, that didn't go according to plan," I observed, Kaoru walking up beside me.

"Plans rarely ever do."

Example A. I looked up at him, smiling. "Yeah, but it works out in the end." After all, had everything gone according to plan, I wouldn't be here, enjoying this moment with him.

"Why are you smiling at me like that?" he chuckled, wrapping his arms around my waist.

"I'll explain later. But Kaoru," I looked up, my eyes meeting his amber orbs, sadness pulling at my voice as I told him softly, "Just remember everything that I'm telling you. And that I love you, and no matter what happens, that will always be true."

His face fell a little, his eyes quizzical. "You sound like you're going to die in a week. Does this have something to do with what you want to tell me at the Autumn Ball?"

"It'll make sense then," I explained solemnly, letting my hand trace his cheek, then down to his jaw. I fingered the locked with my other hand, not quite believing that he had still remembered that. "And believe me, I'm not going to die." But soon enough, it would sure feel like I was.

* * *

**Disclaimer: No own OHSHC. Or HikaHaru.**

**Hooray for posting! Sorry guys, busy schedule and no creativity don't exactly make for fast updates. ;-;**

**Sorry if Hikaru, Haruhi, or Tamaki were OOC during the confession part. It's kinda bugging me, but I don't want to fix it and have to rewrite it all.**

**Ah! So close to the end! I hope I can please you guys with the finale. I'll do my best! o3o**

**After this story is done, I'll post the sequel to The Twin Flowers, and maybe post another new story. There will be no sequel to this story, sorry guys. Argh, I have so many half-baked ideas I'm working on while I'm working on this story that my head is about to explode! Seriously, I have at least 3 more stories that I've begun which I need to go through...  
**

**No time to chat, gotta get cracking on the rest of the story and my life.**

**Read and enjoy!  
**


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

"Stop fidgeting, Haruhi."

"I can't help it, you're taking forever."

"No talking! You're messing up your own makeup!"

"Why do I even have to wear makeup?"

"Because you're a _girl_. I don't care how long you've dressed as a boy, now that the school knows that you're a girl, you need to start acting like one."

"You sound like Tamaki…"

"Don't. Ever. Say. That. Again."

I chuckled to myself, watching from my spot on Misa's bed as my older sister and Haruhi bickered, Haruhi sitting in a chair while Misa leaned over her, applying color to her already pretty face. Ever since Misa started coming to the Host Club, she had started playing "big sister" to Haruhi as well as me, pulling the three of us closer. It never really happened at one specific moment, just in the in between spaces that would otherwise seem like a waste of time.

"Voila. You are officially gorgeous!" Misa exclaimed with a flourish, stepping aside and revealing Haruhi, who looked stunning in her strapless dress with a bubbled bottom, looking like a burst of sunset with a deep red fading into a pale orange. Red heels, gloves that almost came to her shoulders, and an ornate red hairpiece with beads and feathers completed the entire look.

Haruhi turned around a bit, examining her attire, picked out by the twins. "This makeup feels heavy, and I can't walk well in heels."

"Dear lord," Misa over dramatically huffed, putting her hands on her hips, "You have so much left to learn about being a female. It's a good thing I came along…"

Haruhi muttered sarcastically, looking over to me, "Yeah, lucky me."

"At least you don't have to live with her."

"Would you two stop talking about me when I'm right in the very same room?"

I looked over to Misa, sticking my tongue out at her, her response being her mimicking my gesture, both of us laughing after a few seconds. Her long, brown wavy hair was put up into a French Twist, with fake brown and red leaves stuck in for an "autumn" effect. Her blue eyes sparkled, her lips a deep ruby red. Her dress was floor-length and a bright red satin, with a low back, spaghetti straps, some of the material gathering and sagging at the top of her chest, with black beading under her chest. She looked fit for the runway, every bit as beautiful as she had been all her life.

I teased, "Why so dressed to impress, Misa?" I came up to her side, elbowing her in the ribs while she blushed lightly, "Got a hot date tonight? A certain Kyouya, perhaps?"

"Oh, be quiet."

Haruhi looked over to me, her face blank as she pointed to my neck, asking, "Do you ever take that locket off?"

"Oh, right! I still have it on," I muttered, fingering it, a bad habit I had attained. She was right; not even once had I thought of taking it off. "Do you think I should?" It might insult Kaoru to wear it after he found out, anyway…

"Nope. Looks good with your dress, actually," Misa nodded, recovering from my teasing. Drat, I'll have to step it up a notch.

Looking over to a full-length mirror Misa had on the wall next to her bed, I smiled at the design that Kaoru had custom made for me. I really shouldn't have agreed to wear it, but I couldn't help myself. My dirty blond hair was down and curled just slightly, and my green eyes looked nice with the makeup Misa had applied. The dress was a brown silk, with spaghetti straps, a thick maroon ribbon going under my chest, and then the brown silk flaring out ever so slightly, a layer of a darker brown lace with an intricate pattern over the skirt, the ends cut ragged. Maroon heels and brown earrings pulled everything together, the silver locket calling attention. In my opinion, I looked far too nice for the witch I was.

"We should get going," Haruhi piped in, "If we're late we'll never hear the end of it from Tamaki."

With that, we got into the limo, Haruhi complaining that it was far too fancy, Misa telling her to politely shut up or she would let Ranka (who we had met after school one day) dress her up next time. I laughed as Haruhi was silenced, clearly not pleased with the alternative.

The second we stepped into the ballroom, the orchestra playing, the chandeliers twinkling, it was like everyone was waiting for us, Kaoru coming up beside me and sliding his arm around my waist. Misa automatically took her place beside Kyouya, who looked about as stunned as I guess I would ever see him, which in this case was a widening of his eyes about half a centimeter, his eyebrows shooting up a whole half inch. Hikaru awkwardly wrapped his hand around Haruhi's, Haruhi smiling and leaning just a touch closer towards him. Tamaki cooed at how nice we looked, along with Hunny, who was subtler about it, as Mori remained silent. Tamaki was with a girl I had seen around while I played called Ayame, whom I liked because she never said anything about me, while Hunny was with Reiko, a girl who visited the Host Club often that Nekezowa sometimes mentioned whenever I ran into him in the halls. Mori was dateless, and therefore the go-to Host for anyone feeling lonely.

That was another thing that had somehow happened over time, in the little parts of my time here. Nekezowa and I became friends, almost like he was an older brother to me. I suppose we sort of understood each other because we were or had been at one point outcasts. Either way, I had managed to befriend him, and he was a great source of inspiration with all of his weird curses and sayings.

The rest of the night was a blur, filled with laughs and accidents and all around good times. It was moments like these that I cherished with the Host Club. A few moments stood out that I knew I would have to incorporate in a story later, like when Misa "tripped" (I can't help if my foot just "happens" to have a muscle spasm) and fell into Kyouya's arms. Or when Tamaki was being his usual self and Ayame shot him down, only for him to try again, causing me to laugh at the cycle. But perhaps the greatest moment of all was when I was slow-dancing with Kaoru, when the world seemed to just melt away, and all I could hear was the beating of his heart, and how warm and safe it was in his arms.

However, the night was drawing to an end, and I knew that the time had come for me to end all this happiness. I looked around at all the smiling faces once more, snapping a mental picture. Never in a million years would I have thought that so many people would care about me. I tried not to think about how they would be impacted.

"Hey, Kaoru," I whispered into his ear while the others were still recovering from Nekezowa's guest appearance, "I need to speak with you." He nodded, following me outside to the main courtyard, next to the fountain.

Wrapping his arms around me, he asked, "Okay, so what's this all about? You've been bummed for the past week."

I slipped out of his grasp, and he raised a brow, inquisitive. I sighed, deciding to cut right to the chase. Fumbling around in my dress pocket (my personal touch to the design for this moment) I pulled out one of the few things that no one knew I still had.

"So you brought me away from everybody looking like you're about to go to a funeral… for a Ziploc bag filled with shredded pieces of paper…"

Yes, to anyone on the street it would seem that way. But there was more to it. I asked him, "You know that Seiko girl?"

He visibly saddened a bit, but still looked curious as to where I was going with this, answering warily, "Yeah…"

"I'm her."

Silence. I took this as a sign to continue, explaining, "This is my letter. I was pathetic enough to sneak into the school after it closed and you were long gone to pick up all the shredded pieces before I left."

"Taka-Seiko, I'm so sorry," he muttered, taking a step closer to me. He reached out, as if to give me a hug, as if this was his entire fault.

His eyes were shocked and filled with a little pain when I slapped his hand away, taking a step back. He wasn't the one to blame. He was the right one, he should be hating me right now. Before I went on I blurted out, "Remember that I love you and that was never a lie!" I looked up at him, cursing myself for starting to cry and crumble right in front of him, now of all times. "Just remember that I really do love you."

"Takara, what's going on?"

I took another deep breath, looking at the ground. I was scared to see his reaction, to know he would hate me. But it was too late now. "I came back to Ouran with a plan. Ever since I changed, I wanted to hurt you and Hikaru, as payback for what you did to me. But I was wrong. It doesn't matter though, because all I wanted to do was break your heart, and I fell in love with you and you probably hate me right now, which is good because you don't deserve me and I should've never even thought of doing something like this and I'm a horrible person." By the time I was done, I was on the verge of sobbing, and I ventured to see the look on his face.

Stone cold, no emotion but anger, and the tiniest flicker of confusion. "So all along," he muttered gravely, "You were just toying with my emotions. You don't care about me."

"Kaoru that's not-"

"You expect me to believe that? I trusted you, Takara. And all you did was try to hurt me."

I couldn't look at him anymore. My vision was blurring, I felt dizzy, and my knees were about to give way. He went on, "I thought I loved you. Thought you loved me. Only for you to stab me in the back. Am I just some game to you?"

He seemed to get angrier, and sounded almost desperate. "What do you have to say? Aren't you going to fight back?"

I couldn't. I had collapsed onto my knees and tears were pouring down my face. I didn't have the drive to argue, because I knew every single word he said was true. "J-just," I stuttered, trying to control my breathing and keeping my voice from cracking, "Just forget about me, okay?"

"…Why did you do it?"

"I-I wanted revenge."

Silence. "I trusted you. I really did." I didn't dare look up, but heard his footsteps slowly getting fainter and fainter. When I was sure he was gone, I cried, my head in my hands, my heart feeling like it was being stabbed.

I wasn't sure how long I had been sitting there, all alone, crying to myself. However, at one point I heard Nekezowa's voice and the clacking of heels, as he soothed, "She should be right over here if I'm not mistaken."

My head snapped up, seeing Misa and Nekezowa coming towards me, Misa jogging when she saw my tear-stained face, yelling, "Takara! My god, what happened?"

All I could do was cry, looking between her and Nekezowa. He offered grimly, "She thought he deserved to know the truth."

Without another word, Misa walked over to me, helped me up, and let me lean on her as we made our way to our limo, listening to my blubbering, proving just how much she cared about me.

The ride home was silent as I stared out the window, trying to control my tears. "Are you going to go to school tomorrow?" Misa asked, her hand over mine comfortingly.

I shook my head no, a lump rising in my throat as I knew I wouldn't be able to face Kaoru again for a while. "Are you ever going to get over him?" she asked softly.

"I hope he gets over me soon."

She carefully prodded, "You didn't answer my question."

I turned to her, tears welling up in my eyes again. "No. Misa, I wanted to break his heart. In the end, all I did was break my own." She silently hugged me, rubbing small circles on my back as I cried into her shoulder, unable to get rid of the nagging feeling that it just wasn't the same as being comforted by Kaoru.

Before we got out of the limo, I silently confessed to Misa, "I'm an idiot."

"No, you're not," she snapped, "You're the most brave girl I know to have done that."

"Don't mistake foolishness for bravery."

When I was alone in my room, I sat on my bed, fingering the locket. I might've been brave enough to tell Kaoru about everything, but I would never be brave enough to let him go.

* * *

**Disclaimer: Blah blah blah.**

**Sorry it was a bit short, but the next should be longer, and I felt like it accomplished everything I needed it to. I didn't want to go into too much detail about the dance itself because that wasn't the main focus.  
**

**I teared up a little when writing this. =3=**

**Been in a writing zen for this story lately. Next chapter should be up shortly, and it's a bit of a treat in my opinion. Holy cow, almost the end!**

**Read and enjoy!  
**


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

Nekezowa

I'm proud of Seiko. I really am. She has truly proven herself. Belzenef and I are very pleased with her, however I'm not sure how this story of hers will end. Perhaps a happy ending? I would much rather prefer something darker, but then again, I'm not quite sure what love is. Either way, I wish her the best of luck. Now that I think about it, perhaps I should have performed a healing ritual for her…

Hunny

Things just aren't the same without Takara around. Ever since Kaoru told me what happened, and then I asked Misa, I don't know if I'm mad at Takara or sad. I miss eating cake with her. It doesn't matter what she was planning to do in my opinion, because she was a good friend and loved Kaoru. I hope she comes back, I promise I won't be mad at her!

Mori

What Takara did was wrong. But she realized her error. Mitskuni misses her. The entire club seems almost empty without her around anymore. It's strange to not have her try and talk to me every day now. I wonder how she's doing.

Tamaki

I-I don't know what to say. I would have never thought that Takara would do such a thing. But she has become such a close friend, a family member. I want to see her, to talk to her, to try and understand, but Misa keeps snapping at me whenever I mention her. Our guests have certainly noticed, and I've had to politely ask a few of them to leave due to the lies they were spreading about her. No matter what she did, Takara is still my daughter, and as a daddy, I want to do whatever I can to help her! But Misa won't let me… Something about being too dramatic…

Haruhi

I don't think what Takara did was wrong. She wanted revenge, and that was only fair. I can tell she really cared about Kaoru though, and that Kaoru misses her. Hikaru is moody now, and practically growls whenever someone mentions her name. It's rather childish, actually.

Dear mother in heaven, can you see this right now? One of my friends is in pain, and I'm not sure what to do. Misa insists that she just needs rest. I just hope that Takara comes back.

Kyouya

Fewer customers are coming due to Takara's disappearance. Her sister keeps coming, though. When I asked her why, she simply stated that Takara always asks her how everyone is doing. I seem to be spending more and more time with her, and I'm not quite sure why I keep wanting to…

Takara was wrong. However, without her, our profits are exceptionally lower. I'm a bit worried that at this rate, we'll soon be back to square one. I wish her well.

Misa

I want to punch Kaoru's lights out. I honestly do. Doesn't he see what he's doing to my sister? She calls him everyday, _walks_ to his house every afternoon to personally talk to him, and all she gets are an answering machine and a maid slamming a door in her face.

She doesn't want to eat or drink, and she is almost always in her bed.

You want to know something, Kaoru? She still wears that locket you gave her. She still refuses to blame you at all. And all you can do is ignore her, pretend she never existed. Fine, ignore her. But the second I know she'll forgive me if I do, I'll make you wish you had just listened.

Hikaru

I hate Takara. She broke my twin's heart, and now he just mopes around, depressed. He has better things to do than sulk on a girl who betrayed him like that.

We never let anyone into our world. To have Takara stab us like that is something I could never forgive her for. Kaoru cared about her. He really loved her. All she wanted was revenge.

You happy now, Takara? My twin is miserable thanks to you. Congrats, you got what you wanted.

To add insult to injury, everyone at the club misses you. Everyone but me… mostly…

Kaoru

I love her.

I hate her.

I love her.

I hate her.

…I can't go on like this. No matter how many times I tell myself I hate her; no matter how many times I ignore her calls; or refuse to see her, I just can't bring myself to forget about her.

All the little things she did every day are gone. It's like a part of me is missing, like she took it with her.

I don't have much of an appetite anymore, and I can't even perform for the customers at the Host Club. Remember, Takara, when Hikaru and I decided to make you a part of our act? You were annoyed and fought back, and I couldn't help but think I was the luckiest guy in the world.

There I go again, thinking about her. It kills me to know what she did. But then again, she didn't go through with it after all. I just don't know what to think anymore.

I still remember her telling me that she loved me, and that it was true. How can I know that? A part of me wants to believe her, to let her back in, but another part and Hikaru are telling me to shut her out, that as long as I keep her away, I can't get hurt again.

She doesn't come to school anymore, although she always comes to try and talk to me everyday at our house. I never see a limo with her through the window. Does she really walk all that way, even when it rains or is that windy?

I wonder how she's doing. I want to see her again. But I'm afraid the second I do, I'll just get hurt.

Takara

I can't play the viola.

I can't write.

I can't eat.

I can't sleep.

I can hardly breathe.

But I can cry.

It's like the second I pushed Kaoru away, I pushed life aside. All I can do is lie in bed and cry over him, like the pathetic little girl I know I am.

It's not just Kaoru that I miss, either. The entire Host Club is out of my life. I ask Misa everyday about them, and she tries to get me to eat before she finally spills.

I hear Haruhi and Hikaru are now officially a couple, and that Haruhi asks about me often. Hikaru hates my guts, but I don't blame him.

Hunny doesn't eat as much cake, and hugs Usachan all the time. He asks about me a lot as well, and even Mori has told Misa to pass along a hello.

Tamaki wants to burst into my room and squeeze the life out of me in a hug, and blubbers on and on about me to Misa.

Kyouya is Kyouya, showing concern by telling Misa to tell me to get better and come back to play before their profits hit rock bottom. It's nice to know he's concerned.

Nekezowa asks about how I'm holding up, and even gave Misa a Belzenef puppet that she gave to me, for some better fortune. I keep it on my bedside table, and sometimes even put it on to try and make myself smile every once in a while.

Misa says she wants to hurt Kaoru, which is stupid because he didn't do anything. I can't blame him for anything. I don't feel the slightest bit of resent towards him, just pain at the memories.

I still remember him carrying me when I tripped, and getting this locket. I still haven't taken it off.

I try calling Kaoru, but he never picks up. Every day I walk to his house a few miles away, not bothering to take an umbrella if it's raining, just throwing on a jacket before I leave. I'm rather hopeful that he's over me, although I sometimes see a flicker of a curtain or a speck of ginger hair in a window when I go over.

I'm empty inside. The Host Club filled me up, cared for me. Now that they're gone, part of me has vanished, too.

I can't stay here anymore. I need to forget about Kaoru, like he's probably forgotten about me. The first step would probably be to get rid of this locket. And I knew just how to do it.

"Takara, I'm leaving for school," Misa called out, entering my room. She asked, concern and softness in her voice, "Do you want me to tell anything to anyone?"

I smiled up at her, muttering, "Thank Tamaki for the twentieth box of candy he sent me, and the card."

"Okay… You sure you'll be okay?"

"Fine."

"Are you sure you don't want to come to school?" I shook my head no, and watched as she mumbled a bye, leaving my room. I waited another ten minutes, then got up and got dressed, grabbing a backpack, and packing a change of clothes, plenty of money for a plane ticket and more, my phone, my viola, my notebook, and some pencils.

Before I left though, I made sure to seal the letter inside envelope and leave it on my bed in plain sight for Misa to find. I tried calling Kaoru one last time, and when he rejected it, I made my way out the door, the maids calling behind me to take an umbrella.

I didn't care. I just needed to get away. As soon as my feet hit the pavement, I broke out into a run, my sights set for the subway.

I'm leaving all the memories behind. Or at least, I'm trying to.

* * *

**Disclaimer: Whatever.**

**Okay, I lied, the last two chapters should be the longer ones.  
**

**Writing zen is holding up. Wrote this in about half an hour. Gosh, the next chapter is the second to last.**

**Just a little perspective from everybody. Thought you guys might like it. I would say it's been a week or two since the Autumn Ball.**

**Read and enjoy!  
**


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

I watch the tunnels outside the window on my seat on the subway. People look at me strangely, but I'm so used to it from the club that I'm immune. I think Misa has found my letter right about now. I smile at the thought of her calling everyone over. Maybe Kyouya would summon his police force? Doesn't matter, no one knows where I'm going anyway. By the time they're all searching for me, I'll be long gone.

* * *

Hikaru and Kaoru watch as their home phone rings, not willing to pick it up. They exchange a glance, not knowing whom it is. A maid picks it up for them, and yells that there's a Misa Uzuki asking for them. Before Hikaru can snap back something along the lines of "We don't know who the hell that is, hang up!" Kaoru hesitantly pushes the speaker button, earning a small glare from his twin.

"Kaoru? Hikaru? Listen to me, it's about Takara."

"Go away," they both mutter, as Hikaru reaches over his brother on their bed to their bedside table to hang up on her.

"Look, I know that Takara has been trying to call you and talk to you, and you should've listened to her, but it's not about that."

Hikaru froze in mid-reach, Kaoru's ears perking.

Misa took a deep breath, and blurted out, "Takara's missing! She left a letter that she wants everyone to read, and you need to come down here before I make Kyouya's secret police force come get you."

Kaoru was already out the door after the word "missing". Hikaru followed after him, not saying anything, spotting the concern and love in his twin's eyes. Whether he liked Takara or not, Kaoru still loved her, and now was the time to, for quite possibly the first time, follow Kaoru's lead.

* * *

"All right, that's everyone," Misa muttered, closing the door after Nekezowa had lurked in. She walked to the center of the living room, next to Kyouya, gripping an envelope as if her very life depended on it. "Before we do anything, I found this letter along with a note telling me to call all of you and read this out loud." She took a deep breath, then tore open the envelope, taking out a piece of paper with Takara's neat scrawl on it.

After clearing her throat, the Host Club and Nekezowa seemed to lean in, listening intently and for once, silently as Misa read, "Dear friends and sister. If you have found this, then I'm already far out of your reach, which is how I want it to be. But before I left, there were a few things I needed to tell you before I left you all to carry on with your lives. Please pass this letter to the next person it states and have them read their message aloud. The first is Nekezowa."

With that, Misa hesitantly gave the said boy the paper, and he began in his breathy voice, "Dear Nekezowa. You have given me so much wisdom and advice, that I could never thank you enough. Even if you seemed like just a shadow in my life, you mean so much to me. You have helped me learn and grow, and I will always feel in debt to you. Please pass the letter to Hunny."

Hunny took the letter with small tears in his eyes, beginning in a shaky voice, "Hunny. You're cheerful smile and positive attitude always brought a little more sunshine into my day. Eating cakes with you was something that I looked forward to everyday, as you asked me how I was doing. You care for everyone, and genuinely. If anything, never lose your giddy demeanor and optimistic outlook, because everyone needs someone like you in their lives. The next is Mori, and please make him read it aloud, I promise it is not too long."

Taking in a breath, Mori read, "Dear Mori. You are the rock behind it all. I wish I could've gotten to know you better. You are loyal and care for all your friends. Silence is golden. I only wish you would speak a little more, but I wouldn't have it any other way. Tamaki."

Being uncharacteristically serious, Tamaki took the letter from Mori. "Dear Tamaki," he said, already faltering and becoming saddened, "You're definitely someone who's hard to forget. With your loud and dramatic ways, every crazy and/or childish idea you have, you bring the club together. Some might call you an idiot, but you do have your moments. You accepted me, of all people, into your family, and made me feel like I belonged. It's thanks to you that I finally felt like I had friends. The world needs more people like you. Please pass this to my sister."

"Dear Misa," she read, her voice shaky and the pain evident in her eyes, "Please don't cry. I would hate myself even more if I knew I made you cry. You're my sister, my own flesh and blood. You've helped me through everything. You warned me about our plan when you could see I was falling in love with Kaoru. I'm sorry, but I have to do this alone.

"I miss you already. Don't worry; I'll keep in contact with you. I just want you to know that I'm grateful for everything you've done, for everything you've said, for having you in my life. You're my sister and I love you. No amount of words will ever truly describe that. Also, please just admit you like Kyouya, who you will be passing the letter to."

With light blushes on their faces, the letter exchanged hands. "Dear Kyouya. What can I say; you're a businessman. Being the third son doesn't stop you from doing what you want, it doesn't hold you down. I remember you telling me about that, and I actually admire you a little for striving for success, even with the odds stacked against you. Keep at it.

"Also, you show concern in a strange way, through business terms and medical questions. Needless to say, you probably care about everyone the most, and you should know that it's fine to show your feelings, especially towards Misa. Pass the letter to Haruhi."

"Haruhi, you're like a sister to me. You're the one in the club who is down to earth and keeps these guys from floating away. Sure, you're blunt, but that's not always a bad thing.

"Do you remember when I found out about your mom? You told me you want to be a lawyer, just like her. Never give that up. You've come this far with your dream, it's only right that you fulfill it. I'm sorry that I never had the chance to stay and help you, but I want you to reach that level of happiness, for the both of us. Or, if you hate my guts (which everyone really should at this point) then do it just for yourself and your mom.

"Best of luck with your academics and your love life with Hikaru, who is up next," she finished, looking over to the ginger.

He still looked moody, but after a look from Haruhi he crumbled a bit, allowing her to give him the letter. The second he began to read, almost all traces of spite left his voice, and he sounded almost as sad as the others, "Dear Hikaru. You hate me, and I know it. That's good, because it shows that you care for Kaoru. He needs you, not me.

"I could probably say sorry a million times, and you would never forgive me, so I'll say this instead. I regret every little thing I did, except for meeting you two. Hikaru, you are loyal and protective, and I'm glad that someone like Haruhi came into your life, because you deserve it. Please make sure Kaoru moves on and finds someone else, because you know more than anybody how much he deserves someone better than me. Kaoru."

Hikaru looked over at his twin uncertainly, silently pleading with his eyes, _It's okay, you don't have to read it. You don't have to be hurt again._

_ …I know. But I want to._

With that, the letter exchanged hands for the last time, Kaoru beginning in a shaky voice that was just barely louder than a whisper, "Dear Kaoru. How are you doing? I wonder about you everyday. You probably noticed that I leave at least five messages on your phone everyday, and walk to your house. It's a long walk, but it lets me think. Anyway, I'm not sure what you expected me to tell you, but all I wanted to say was sorry, really, and that I was glad that you knew the truth, so you could just remove me from your life and find someone who won't hurt you.

"I'll admit right now that I love you. I don't care if you don't think it's true, because I know it is. There is no way I will ever be able to forget you, but I can try. For now, though, I just want to get all this out.

"Ever since you left, I've been trying to tell myself that you're better off, and I know that for a fact. However, I'm not better off. You were my life, Kaoru, all of you were. Now that you're gone I can't do anything. I haven't played a single note on my viola, because I can't think of anything, and I break down whenever I remember all those times I played for you guys. I can't write a single story because I remember you going through them.

"Remember when you first took my notebook, with Hikaru, right before I met you in the park and you gave me the locket? I still remember your favorite story, the one about the cat and mice. That will always be my favorite.

"Speaking of that locket, I've never taken it off. Not even once. However, I'll probably get rid of it as soon as I can because I know I'm just insulting you by wearing it. Whenever I try to take it off, though, my hand tremble, my breathing turns into pants, and I cry over you. That's how pathetic I am. I'm sorry, but I just can't let you go.

"Kaoru, I could spend an hour saying sorry. But I know that's not what you want to hear. I regret what I did, like I said to Hikaru. There's more to it, though. I love you, Kaoru, I really do. In the beginning, it was revenge. In the end, it was love. Don't believe me if you don't want to, because I know how hard it is for someone to betray you like that, especially when you're so closed off from the world.

"I want you to read this last part, too, Kaoru.

"You know what I cherish the most? Those little moments that would otherwise seem insignificant to anyone else that meant the world to me. Whenever Tamaki called me his daughter, I actually did enjoy it. It meant I finally belonged somewhere. Just being around all of you, from eating cake with Hunny and Mori, to bumping into Nekezowa in the hall. The Host Club was the one place that really felt like home to me. It's those little things that will probably be the hardest to forget.

"So now you're all probably wondering where I am, and where I'm running off to. I honestly don't know. I have enough money for a plane ticket, though, to wherever my mom is modeling. Sure, my parents will once again think I'm a waste of space, but I don't have many other options. I can't stay here, guys. There are too many memories, too much pain waiting for me. I guess I need a fresh start. First, though, I need to get rid of one last memory.

"Please don't look for me. You know I don't deserve it. Please just move on with your lives, and leave Takara, the strange girl who broke your friend's heart, in the past. Love, Seiko/Takara."

Everyone looked between each other, the rain hitting the roof suddenly ear-splitting. Haruhi looked out the window with fear in her eyes, and Hikaru wrapped his arm around her reassuringly.

Misa was the first to speak, and she immediately ordered, "We need to set up search parties. Someone will need to go to the airport, as well to see if she shows up. Hikaru, Haruhi, I want you to stay here, so Haruhi won't be scared of the thunder, and in case Takara comes back."

"I'll send my police officers out to find her," Kyouya added, already pulling out his cell phone.

Kaoru couldn't hear them. He was too busy trying to figure out where Takara was. She said that she needed to get rid of a memory. It hit him, and he quickly asked, everyone slightly stunned that he was even speaking, "Where's the closest bridge?"

Misa looked confused, but answered, "In the city, by taking the subway, which is-"

He was already off and running into the rain, not wasting time with an umbrella or pulling on the hood of his jacket over his head. Kaoru had to find her.

"What is he doing?" Haruhi muttered, everyone assembling in the door frame to watch him sprint and skid down the slippery sidewalk. However, she already knew the answer before the question had even left her mouth.

Kaoru was going to save Takara from herself, because he knew he was the only one who could.

* * *

**Disclaimer: Done.**

**Oh wow, next chapter is the last.**

**I want to thank each and every one of you who have read, even if you didn't review or like it. If you did, your reviews made my day, they really did.**

**Next chapter will hopefully answer all questions and may even be up later today. Gosh, this has been such a wonderful experience. Thanks to all of you for keeping me going with this story.**

**Read and enjoy.  
**


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

"Should we help?" Hunny asked, everyone still looking at the street as the rain poured down in buckets.

Tamaki smiled, explaining, "No, this is something Kaoru has to do on his own. But we know where to pick them up later."

Hikaru looked straight ahead, until finally a small smile grew on his face. "Come on, Kaoru," he whispered, "You can do it."

* * *

_It was right before we had left the lake, when Kaoru and I were watching some comedy we didn't really care about. At one point, the movie showed some all powerful sword, and a second later, while a spotlight was still on it and angels were still singing, the main character accidentally broke it, simply muttering something about it not being as indestructible as they had been told._

"_Well, that's a rip-off," I muttered._

_Kaoru added, "Yeah, I think your locket is stronger than that."_

"_Is it 'indestructible'?"_

_He chuckled, "No, but it can definitely withstand a lot of damage. I figured you would be tripping a lot and might need something a little sturdier."_

"_So just how can you destroy this thing?" I asked, laughing._

"_Beats me. I guess the easiest way to get rid of it would be to throw it off a bridge, or something."_

"_Yeah, sounds about right."_

"_Are you gonna eat all that popcorn?"_

"_Yup."_

"_Can you at least give me some?"_

"_Make me."_

_By now we had completely forgotten about the movie and were instead tossing popcorn at each other, laughing and having an amazing time, just the two of us._

I stared out at the river, laughing to myself at the memory. Slowly, a few tears made their way down my cheeks. I couldn't even get rid of a memory without remembering another one.

The subway entrance was a ways off, and I listened to the cars whiz by behind me. I was on the bridge, where the sidewalk was, the rain coming down in buckets.

They had read the letter by now. I wondered what they were up to. Probably arranging search parties or something, or maybe they had taken my advice. Either way, I didn't have much time, seeing as how a last minute ticket to Singapore wasn't going to just float around, waiting for me.

* * *

_Come on_, Kaoru thought to himself, _Can't this thing go any faster?_

He would've never even dreamed that he would ever take a subway in his life. He could've summoned a limo, yet here he was, impatiently tapping his foot as this commoner contraption lurched to a stop, letting on passengers and others off, then continuing on its merry way. Didn't it realize how much of a hurry he was in?

Okay, so technically it couldn't, but Kaoru wasn't exactly in the mood to be accurate about everything.

Many passengers stared at him, whether it was from the fact that he was wearing designer brands they had never even heard of, he was sopping wet and he had no umbrella, or that being too impatient and in too much of a rush he had no time to buy a card and swipe it at the machines so instead jumped over them, hopped onto the correct train, a security guard barking at him and chasing his heels, while little kids marveled at him.

Thinking about it, he was acting a bit like Hikaru. Sure, he was thinking right now, but the second he realized where Takara was going, it was just impulse. Maybe this meant Hikaru would start acting like him a little? Now there was a thought. Kaoru chuckled a bit to himself, but stopped as the subway once again halted, clearly teasing him.

Next stop. Just one more and he would see her. Now that he thought about it, did he even have the courage to face her? All this time, he should've forgiven her, listened at least, known that she had loved him all along and that he had loved her.

No time for that. The doors were finally sliding open and the second they did, he bolted out, a few people glaring at his rudeness, and Kaoru just not caring. Didn't they realize he was about to lose the one girl he loved?

* * *

Adjusting my backpack, I slowly and carefully stepped onto the wet metal of the side of the bridge, squealing a bit as I almost slipped, hanging on to a metal beam for dear life. This bridge had to be at least seven stories high, and I did not want to risk a plunge into the water that would no doubt be icy cold with the autumn wind.

Regaining balance, I slowly let go of the beam, standing on the round, wet metal, people probably looking at me like I was a complete idiot, which I was. My hands made their way up my neck, trembling. I could feel the cool silver of the chain on my fingertips; I was so close to burying this all, so that it was all water under the bridge, so to speak.

My breathing was now turning ragged, and my eyes were welling up. No, not this again. This was for the best; this is what I was supposed to do. I stood like that for another minute, my fingers just brushing the chain, while I was on the verge of crying, right then and there, in the rain, standing on the edge of a bridge, no one around to comfort me. I closed my eyes, trying to block out the world, my hands retreating to my sides, giving up on taking off the locket. I had to do this. I just had to.

* * *

Kaoru weaved his way through the crowd and up the stairs to the outside world, the city buzzing with life. He looked to his right, finding that the street was filled with assorted cars, coming and going. Without another thought, he followed the sidewalk, his breathing heavy and the rain pouring down on him.

He could begin to see the bridge, the very top of it rising above the rest, skyscrapers and people seeming to disappear as he sped up, keeping his eyes on it. Once he was closer, he was already out of breath, slowing down.

There she was. Her long hair was down and sticking to her jacket and face wildly, her eyes closed as she stood there, still as a statue, on the side of the bridge. Cars where screeching past her, a few people honking, and a small crowd had even begun to gather a few yards away, watching her and whispering.

Kaoru wasn't sure what to do. She didn't even see him. He could tell she was a wreck, though, just as hurt as him. He bit his lip, not sure what to do at this point. He had come this far; he couldn't just give up. Continuing down the wet sidewalk, watching as he got closer and closer, he yelled out, "Takara!"

* * *

"Takara!"

I knew that voice anywhere. But it couldn't be…

My eyes opened and widened as my head swiveled to see that it was in fact, Kaoru who was running towards me, soaking wet and yelling my name.

"No, Kaoru, I-" I turned to him, but the rain was hard and the metal dripping with water, and my foot slipped right off, taking my body with it as I fell, people yelling and cars screeching to a halt. I let out a scream, sheer terror filling me. This couldn't be happening.

* * *

This couldn't be happening. Takara was right there, Kaoru had her in his reach, and now she was falling.

No time to think. Time to stop being Kaoru and just do something. He sprinted, hauling himself up onto the metal bar and then jumping off, yelling, "Takara!" Reaching out his hand, he watched as she reached out as well, allowing him to pull her closer to him, protecting her.

* * *

"I-I thought you hated me," I whispered weakly as we continued to fall, my eyes closing as we almost hit the water.

Right before we did, though, he whispered into my ear, his sweet breath tickling my neck and giving me that rush like it always did, "I never did."

I gasped, whether from the freezing temperature of the water or from the statement, I wasn't sure. I swam up, Kaoru holding my hand, both of our heads popping out of the water and gasping for breath at the same time. "N-no," I muttered, tears coming back as I looked at him again, "You shouldn't have done that, I-"

"Shut up Takara." His tone was sweet, almost teasing, and before I could try to push him away, his hands caressed the sides of my face and his lips crash down onto mine, kissing me even while we were treading water in the middle of a river. I could hear cheers from some sort of crowd, but they melted away as I closed my eyes and wrapped my arms around his neck, allowing myself to melt into him.

We separated after a minute, making our way to the riverbank of rocks. We sat there, silently, his hand over mine and I looked up to the sky, the clouds clearing away and revealing a bright and happy sun. "Look at that," I muttered, "It's like you carry sunshine around with you wherever you go."

"Takara, I'm sorry."

"I should be sorry, I-"

"No, you shouldn't." He looked at me, explaining, "I should've listened and trusted you. I'm sorry for leaving you alone."

I should've fought back. I should've told him to leave and let me go. I couldn't though. Leaning my head on his shoulder, I let a comfortable silence take over, mumbling, "I love you, Kaoru."

"I love you, too."

I looked over to my backpack, drenched but hopefully protecting the contents from the water, as it was advertised to do. I let my gaze settle back on Kaoru, and asked, "So are you sure everyone isn't mad?"

"Positive. They missed you, even Hikaru."

"And what about the rumors? This is going to be the talk of the school when I come back."

"How come?"

"I see a news crew up there with the crowd."

"Oh boy. My parents are going to ask me a lot of questions…"

I sighed, taking out my phone out of my backpack next to me, hearing the familiar ring tone. "Mine are already on that." Picking it up I asked quietly, "Hello?"

I could hear my dad's voice screaming on the other end, and I had to hold the phone a few inches away from my ear so as not to burst my eardrum. Wincing, I listened to his yelling. "Seiko Takara Uzuki! You have some explaining to do! I just saw the news with your mother and I am furious! There you are again, ruining the Uzuki family name! Are you trying to hurt our business? When I'm through with you young lady-"

"May I do the honors?" Kaoru asked innocently, pointing to my phone and jerking his head towards the river.

If I let him, I would be screwed. I smirked. Meh, when did I ever care? "Be my guest," I replied, giving him my phone and watching as he stood up, tossing it into the air and grinning as it hit the water with a splash. "9.8," I commented.

He held out his hand and I took it, standing up and grabbing my backpack. We began our way up the bank and back onto the sidewalk, where a group of people ranging from the curious civilian to news reporters practically tackled us, all talking at the same time. Kaoru took a hold of my hand as we pushed our way through, only to be followed.

"What do we do now?"

"Takara!" My head snapped up as I heard Misa yelling my name, standing outside a limo, the door open. Kyouya was beside her, a hand on her shoulder.

Tamaki popped his head out the open door, beaming and yelling for us to come on. Hunny joined him, and Mori silently followed their examples, minus the speaking. Hikaru and Haruhi were standing outside the limo on the other side, Hikaru waving and beaming, Haruhi smiling at me.

Before the crowd swallowed us up again, Kaoru yanked me through, the two of us sliding into seats as the others got in and closed the door, Misa telling the driver, "Step on it, Tohru."

Once we were safely driving back to my house, Kaoru sitting next to me with his arm around my shoulder, Misa on my other side, everyone started asking if I was all right and what happened.

I looked around at all their faces, taking them all in. Even Nekezowa was sitting in the corner, asking if I was fine. These were my friends. They truly cared for me, no matter what I did.

"You sure you'll be okay?" Kaoru asked, whispering in my ear.

I looked up at him, grinning. "Just fine."

There I was, the tomboy transformed that had never been accepted now sitting with nine people who loved me. To think, all of this started because I wanted revenge, and then ended up falling in love with Kaoru. I was stronger, braver, and felt like the luckiest girl in the world. And if I could go back and do it all over again, I wouldn't change a thing.

Some say this might be the end of my story. But looking around at all the smiling faces, my sister sitting and holding hands with Kyouya, Haruhi leaning a little into Hikaru, Hunny beaming with Mori silently smiling beside him, Nekezowa in the corner scaring Tamaki, and Kaoru next to me, protecting me, I knew that in reality, this was only the beginning.

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**Disclaimer: For the last time in this story, I don't own OHSHC**

**Okay, so I admit, the whole falling off the bridge was _kinda_ based on the last episode of the anime, but I like it.**

**I'm a bit sad to say that there will be no sequel. Sorry, but I think right here is the best place to end it.**

**I want to thank every single one of you who read this once more, because without you this story never would've made it this far.**

**And so, I'm proud to say that this is the end of The Hitachiin Twins Must Die. I hope you enjoyed the journey as much as I did.  
**


	15. Epilogue

**-.- ...I'm such a wimp... Allow me to explain:**

**Me: All right, be firm, be strong! That's it, no more! This story is done! The end note says it all! :|  
**

***reads _extremely_ enthusiastic review from dakota321***

**Me: _Welll... _I _did _have an idea for an epilogue...**

**So for those of you who wanted just a little more, thank dakota321. And just how weak I am. :I

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**

Epilogue

"And that's how your mommy and daddy met," a woman in her mid-twenties with golden hair and green eyes soothed to two small children in their bedrooms.

"That's a long story," both of them commented in high-pitched voices, sitting in their green and orange beds on either side of their mom. They couldn't be older than five or six, and one was a boy, the other a girl.

The boy had short, spiky dirty blond hair and amber cat eyes, with little flecks of brown in them. He also had a small splash of freckles on his nose, and was missing one of his front teeth. "What happened to everybody else?" he asked loudly, getting his mother's attention.

She smiled, answering, "I think you know that very well, Ryu."

"Oh, I know! I know!" The girl chirped, waving her hand excitedly, as if waiting to be called on by a teacher. Her eyes were like her brothers, but she had long, straight dirty blond hair, and slightly more freckles. She continued, "Auntie Misa and Uncle Kyouya fell in love and got married and they have a boy named Katsu who's really bossy and a year older than us."

"Very good, Kimiko," their mother complimented, ruffling the girl's hair as Kimiko beamed.

Ryu, not to be outdone, quickly added, "And Uncle Hikaru and Aunt Haruhi got married and they have twin boys named Shino and Shinobu that are our age and they always cheat at games with Kimiko!"

"It's not cheating if you don't get caught!" Kimiko snapped, "And you never catch us 'till we win!"

Their mom raised a brow, asking her, "And just where did you learn this all from?"

Kimiko blinked owlishly. Then, as if it was the most obvious answer ever, told her plainly, "Daddy."

"Of course," their mom rolled her eyes good-naturedly, laughing a bit. It was to be expected from a Hitachiin. Getting back on subject, she asked, "And what about Mr. Mitskuni and Mrs. Reiko?"

"They got married and have Yuichi who's really creepy and three years older than us and never plays the games right. And Mrs. Reiko is gonna have another baby soon," Kimiko added, ignoring her fraternal twin until he stuck his tongue out at her, to which she stuck her own tongue out.

"And Mr. Takashi," Ryu said, "Got married to Mrs. Rei and they have a boy three years older named Habiki who's always around Yuichi and a really pretty girl our age named Nori who's really nice."

Kimiko chimed, "Someone's got a cru-ush~!"

"No I don't!" Ryu snapped, his cheeks turning scarlet red.

Their mom sighed. "Kimiko, stop teasing your brother."

She pouted after the small scolding, but added in a sulky tone, "And Mr. Nekezowa got married to Mrs. Kairi and they have a daughter named Nami who's a year older than me and is gonna put a curse on Ryu next time she comes over."

"Hey!" Ryu told their mom, "And Mr. Tamaki comes over all the time and gives us really hard hugs and married Mrs. Ayame, and their son Mitsu is two years older and wears glasses and is really really hyper and dorky and stuff. And Daiki is a year younger than us and isn't good at running but is super smart."

"Ew, he's icky," Kimiko commented, twisting her face as if she was smelling something rotten.

Their mother chuckled and asked, "Why's that?"

"'Cause he keeps trying to kiss me and he says that we're gonna get married and I ain't never gonna be married!"

The woman smiled, remembering how she was when she was young. She soothed, "Maybe one day you will, Kimi. If you find the one boy that makes you the happiest, then you would want to marry him, like I did with your daddy, right?"

Kimiko argued, "Nu-uh! 'Cause I'm gonna be a pirate when I grow up, and pirates don't fall in love!"

"Nobody _likes_ pirates, either," Ryu sniggered, earning a glare from his twin.

A second later, a man with ginger hair and amber cat eyes poked his head into the green and orange kid's room, asking, "What are you two still doing up? It's past your bedtime."

"But Daddy," they whined simultaneously, "You said we could stay up as long as we want to if Mommy doesn't catch us."

Kaoru's eyes widened, and he looked over to his wife, Takara, who was raising a brow and giving him a slight glare. "Kids," he laughed nervously, "What are you going to do with them?"

"Not raise them well, in your case."

"Ouch."

Kimiko and Ryu laughed, chorusing, "Daddy's in trou-ble~!"

"Yes, he is," Takara agreed, standing up from the chair she was sitting in, and tucking in and kissing first Ryu, then Kimiko, who argued at first but then complied begrudgingly.

Kaoru came in and kissed their kids' foreheads as well, following his wife out of the room, and turning off the lights. "Good night you two."

"Good night, Mommy and Daddy!"

After shutting the door closed behind him, Kaoru turned and saw his wife with her arms crossed over her chest, giving him a small glare. "So what's this about letting our children stay up, so long as I don't catch them?"

"One moment," he stalled, turning back towards the door. He quickly opened it and watched bemused as Kimiko and Ryu fell out, Kimiko landing on top of her fraternal twin. "_Bed_, you two."

Ryu scrambled out from under his sister, slightly blushing, and muttered, "Kimi made me do it." Then, while his sister glared, he scurried to his bed, eager to obey.

Kaoru looked at Kimiko, asserting, "You too."

She pouted, crossing her arms over her chest and making her way back to her bed, muttering, "But I wanted to see Dad get in trouble…"

After closing the door once more, Kaoru was ready to face the music. Takara led him through the hallway and back to their bedroom, muttering, "Ah forget it, you'll just tell them to do something worse next time."

"Hey, I'm not that bad of a parent. So what if they turn out like me?" He wrapped his arms around her waist, cooing, "I've got it pretty good, right? I'm working at a job that I love with my twin, I have two beautiful children, and…" He kissed her jaw greedily, adding, "An amazing wife who happens to love me as well and will let me go this time with a warning."

Takara rolled her eyes, but smiled, pulling away slightly and sitting on their bed, asking, "So how was work today?"

"Managed to finish the sketches for the Spring Line coming up. And Hikaru kept texting or calling Haruhi every ten minutes, so while he wasn't looking I poured some ice down his shirt so he sounded like an idiot over the phone," Kaoru told her, taking off his blazer and tossing it to the side. "How was your day?"

His wife nodded, standing up to help him with his tie, replying, "Managed to finish that rough draft and send it to my editor. Dropped the kids off and picked them up from school. Kimiko got in trouble again."

Kaoru joked, "What was it this time?"

"She put a frog in a girl's desk, and her justification was something along the lines of 'I didn't like her, and she looked like a frog'."

"Aw, she's growing up to be just like her dad." He grinned, Takara laughing.

Once she had finished with his tie, something caught Kaoru's eye. He hugged her again, pointing out, "I see that even after all these years you still wear that locket."

"I changed the pictures to one from our wedding day and another from our honeymoon."

"But you haven't even taken it off."

"I still have the love letter I wrote to you, too."

Kaoru grinned, kissing her and sniggering, "I guess that's where this all started, huh?"

She smiled, adding, "It's a good thing you were a spoiled brat when you were younger, or this never would've happened."

"Hey!"

"Oh, be shut up. You know I love you." Without another word, the two smiled at each other and kissed, thankful for everything that had happened to them.

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**Seriously, this is it. The. End.**

**Thanks again to everyone who read.  
**

**Until next time, read and enjoy.  
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